VJnW> 


atnia 


I'C'* 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

IRVINE 


GUT  OF 

John  &  Mary  Prescott 


THE 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA: 


EAELIEST  FRENCH  EXPLORATIONS 


PRESENT   TIME. 


BY 

EDWARD    DUFFIELD    NEILL, 

SECnr.TARY  OF  THE  MINNESOTA  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 


"  NEC  FALSA  DICERE,  NEC  VEKA  KETICEKE." 


PIIILADELPniA: 

J.     B.     LIPPINCOTT     k     CO, 
1858. 


A 


1-^9 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  ]858,  by 

ED\YARD  DUFFIELD  NEILL, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


MEARS  ft  BTJSENBERT,     STERECTTPERS. 


TO 


ANNA    EARL     RAMSEY, 

MY  WIFE'S  FRIEND, 
THE    NAME    OF    WHOSE    HUSBAND, 

AS  IHE 

|irst  §0lj£rn,or, 

MUST   ALWAYS    BE    IDENTIFIED 

WITH  THE 

HISTORY    OF    MINNESOTA, 

f  bis  SSlorh 

IS     INSCRIBED. 


PEEFACE. 


Nine  years  ago,  the  writer  "wished  to  obtain  some  information 
in  relation  to  Minnesota,  but  could  find  no  reliable  history. 
Even  the  devout  astronomer  and  geologist,  Nicollet,  was  misled 
by  the  fable  of  Baron  La  Hontan,  more  wonderful  than  any 
Munchausen  story,  and  inclined  to  the  belief  that  the  Long 
river,  on  which  that  writer  said  he  travelled  in  a  canoe  in 
winter,  was  really  a  stream  of  Minnesota. 

The  most  costly  Atlas  ever  j^ublished  in  America,  which 
adorns  libraries  and  is  a  work  of  reference  used  by  our  public 
men,  in  the  description  of  this  portion  of  the  Union,  is  full  of 
errors.  As  the  historian  of  a  government  exploring  expedi- 
tion, informed  the  world,  that  "  with  the  most  active  vigilance, 
it  was  impossible  to  subsist  upon  the  grain"  raised  in  the 
vicinity  of  Chicago,  so  the  editor  of  the  geographical  descrip- 
tions accompanying  the  work  to  which  we  have  alluded,  with 
the  same  incorrectness,  states  that  the  summers  of  Minnesota 
arc  too  brief  for  agricultural  success. 

The  design  of  this  History,  is  first,  to  show  where  Minnesota 
is,  its  characteristics  and  adaptations  for  a  dense  and  robust 

(5) 


vi  PREFACE. 

population,  and  then  consider  the  past  and  present  dwellers  on 
the  soil. 

In  addition  to  the  knowledge  obtained  from  a  residence  of 
many  years,  during  the  houi-s  not  occupied  by  professional 
duties,  the  works  of  Charlevoix,  La  Harpe,  Hennepin,  the 
Jesuit  Relations,  French  Official  Documents,  and  the  atlases 
of  De  risle,  Robert,  Buache,  Vaugondy,  Moll,  and  others, 
besides  separate  charts,  have  been  examined.  The  result  is 
presented  in  the  following  pages. 

Much  assistance  has  been  derived  from  the  Documents  per- 
taining to  the  Colonial  History  of  New  York,  the  Documentary 
History  of  Wisconsin,  and  kindred  works. 

For  information  concerning  the  aborigines  of  Minnesota,  I 
am  indebted  to  frequent  conversations  with  the  Reverend 
Messrs.  Pond,  Riggs,  and  Williamson,  whose  years  of  toil  for 
the  welfare  of  the  Dahkotah  Nation,  need  no  comment. 

It  has  been  necessary  in  many  places  to  sift  the  statements 
of  mere  tourists  and  letter-writers,  but  the  endeavour  has  been 
always  to  bear  in  mind  the  essential  of  the  historian,  neither 
to  state  false  things  nor  suppress  the  truth ;  "  Nee  falsa  dicere, 
nee  vera  reticere." 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTORY. 


Physical  characteristics,  Pag 

e  xxvii 

Minnesota  well  watered. 

XXXV 

Boundaries  of  the  state, 

xxvii 

Cascades  of  Pigeon  river, 

xxxvi 

Climate  of  Minnesota, 

xxviii 

Falls  of  Kettle  river,  . 

xxxvi 

Eulogy  on  climate  by  Maury, 

xxviii 

Vermillion  Falls, 

xxxvi 

Report  of  Minnesota  and 

Minne-ha-ha, 

xxxvii 

Pacific  Railroad,     . 

sxix 

Falls  of  St.  Anthony, 

xxxviii 

Temperature  of  Minnesota, 

xxix 

Early  French  maps,  . 

xli 

Table  illustrative  of  tempe- 

De risle's  maps, 

xlii 

rature,    .... 

sxx 

Jefi"cry's  map,  1762,  . 

xliii 

Annual  temperature  equal 

Pronunciation    of    certain 

to  Central  New  York,     , 

xxxi 

Indian  names, 

xliv 

Table  showing  mean  fall  o 

Census  of  Minnesota,  1857 

xlv 

rain  and  melted  snow  at 

Rev.    Albert    Barnes'  de 

various  places, 

xxxii 

scription    of    Minnesota 

Less  snow  than  on  the  At- 

scenery, . 

xlvi 

lantic  border. 

xxxiii 

Meaning  of  the  word  Min 

Table  showing  mean  force 

nesota,    . 

xlvii 

of  wind  in  winter  for  se- 

Dahkotah used  in  place  o 

f 

veral  years,    . 

xxxiv 

Sioux,     . 

xlvii 

CHAPTER    I. 


Dahkotahs,  a  distinct  group. 
Language  difficult,  . 
Mille  Lac  region,     . 
Dahkotah,  its  signification. 
Origin  of  term  Sioux, 
Divisions  of  the  Dahkotahs, 
M'dewakantonwans, 


.      49 

Yanktons,        .... 

52 

.      49 

Tectwawns,     .... 

52 

.       50 

Assineboines, 

52 

.      50 

Revolt  of  the  Assineboines,     . 

53 

.      51 

Religious  characteristics, 

54 

.      51 

No  idea  of  a  Supreme  Being,  . 

54 

.      52 

Oauktayhee,    .... 
(7) 

55 

viii 

CONTENTS. 

Ilayokah, 

56     Poem  on  Thunder  Bird,  . 

.      59 

Takushkankan, 

57     Sun  -worship,  . 

.      60 

Wahkeenyan, 

58    Offerings  to  stones, 

.      60 

Thunder  Nest, 

.      58 

CHAPTER   II. 


Dahkotahs  priestridden,  . 

01 

Sacred  men,    . 

.61 

Sacred  or  medicine  dance. 

62 

Initiation  as  a  sacred  man. 

62 

Ceremonies,     . 

63 

Sacred  song,    . 

64 

Medicine  sack, 

64 

Dahkotah  doctors,   . 

65 

Vapour  bath,  , 

65 

Hennepin  steamed, 

65 

Medicine  man,  signification, 

66 

Cause  of  disease,     . 

66 

Manner  of  calling  a  doctor. 

67 

Mode  of  medical  practice. 

67 

Fondness  for  war,    . 

.      68 

Vows  of  a  young  warrior. 

68 

The  return  of  a  war  party, 

69 

Scalp,  its  preparation. 

.      69 

Scalp  dance,    . 

.      69 

Feathers,  signs  of  prowess. 

.      69 

Maternal  affection, . 

Lament  over  an  infant,   . 

Mode  of  obtaining  wives. 

Custom  of  son-in-law. 

Penalty  for  adultery, 

The  woodpecker  charm,  . 

Love  of  dress. 

Games,  plum  stones, 

Ball  play, 

Ball  play  at  Oak  Grove, 

Dog  dance. 

Fish  dance. 

Cormorant  dance,    . 

Secret  clubs,   . 

Crow  Feather  in  Cap  Club, 

Strong  Heart  Club, 

Uncleanness,  . 

Dog  meat,  a  delicacy. 

Irregular  mode  of  life,    . 


CHAPTER   IIL 


Dahkotah  women,    . 

82 

Hardships  of  women. 

82 

Husbands  cruel. 

83 

Disposition  to  be  suicides. 

84 

Disguised  girl, 

84 

Chiefs,  no  authority. 

85 

Absence  of  law. 

85 

Names  of  months,  . 

86 

Moon  eaten  by  mice, 

87 

Looking-glass, 

87 

Peculiar  views. 

87 

Belief  in  relation  to  future. 

87 

Burial  ceremonies,  . 

88 

Death  song,     . 

89 

Schiller's  poem. 

Translations    of  Bulwer    and 

Herschell,    . 
Legends, 

Eagle-Eye  and  Scarlet  Dove, 
Anpetusapa,    . 
Weenonah, 
Hogan-wanke-kin,     St.    Croi: 

River, 
Language  of  Dahkotahs, 
Hennepin  collecting  a  vocabu 

lary 

Riggs's  Lexicon, 
Dahkotah  Alphabet, 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   IV. 


Source  of  St.  Lawrence  iu  Min- 
nesota, ....  99 
Cartier  discovers  the  mouth,  .  99 
Champlain  in  Huron  country,  99 
Nicolet,  in  Wisconsin,  .  .  100 
Le  Jeune's  mention  of  Dahko- 

tahs, 101 

Jogues  and  Raymbault  at  Sault 

St.  Marie,  .  .  .  .101 
Traders  west  of  Lake  Superior,  102 
Garreau  and  Dreuilletes,  .  102 
Puritan  Eliot,  .         .         .102 

Two  traders  visit  Dahkotahs,  .  103 
Their  description,  .  .  .  103 
Grosellier,  .  .  .  .103 
Murder  of  Garreau,  .  .  104 
Ren6  Menard,  .         .         .     104 

His  farewell  letter,  .         .     104 

Arrival  in  Lake  Superior,       .     105 


Ilurons  at  La  Pointe,  .     106 

Guerin,  Menai-d's  companion,  106 
Menard  lost,  .  .  .  .107 
AUouez  succeeds  Menard,  .  107 
Arrives  at  La  Pointe,  .  .  108 
Grand  Council,  .  .  .108 
Allouez  meets  Dahkotahs,  .  109 
First  mention   of  the   "  Mes- 

sipi,"  ....  110 
Description  of  Dahkotahs,  .  110 
Marquette  succeeds  Allouez,  .  Ill 
His  opinion  of  the  Dahkotahs,  111 
Number  of  Dahkotah  villages,  112 
La  Pointe  Mission  abandoned,  113 
Dahkotahs  killed  at  Sault  St. 

Marie,  .         .         .         .113 

Ojibways  intermarry  with  Dah- 
kotahs,        ....     113 


CHAPTER   V. 


Fur  trade,        .... 

115 

Fascination  of  the  business     . 

115 

Licenses  granted  to  old  oflBcers, 

115 

Clerks 

115 

Voyageurs,      .... 

116 

Careless  and  hardy  class. 

116 

Fondness  for  the  frontier. 

117 

Complaints    against    coureurs 

des  bois,       .... 

117 

Meaning  of  the  expression,     . 

117 

Number  of  annual  licenses,     . 

118 

Profits  of  the  trade, 

119 

Nicholas  Pcrrot, 

119 

Perrot  a  Canadian, 
Visits  tribes  of  Lake  Michigan 
Council  at  Sault  St.  Marie, 
French    take     possession     of 

North-west, 
Trading  post  at  head  of  Lake 

Superior,      ... 
Du  Luth  visits  Minnesota, 
Intcndant     of     Canada     dis 

pleased, 
Mille  Lac  called  Lake  Buade 
Per  rot's   account  attracts   La 

Salle,  .... 


119 
120 

120 

121 

121 

122 

122 
122 

123 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    VI. 


La  Salle  at  Kingston, 

124 

Ridicule  of  the  Indians,  . 

133 

Louis  Hennepin, 

124 

First  infant  baptism  in  Minne- 

His  early  life. 

124 

nesota,         .... 

134 

Not  a  Jesuit,  .... 

125 

Arrival  of  distant  Indians, 

134 

Embarks  for  Canada, 

125 

Hope  of  a  Northern  Pacific  route, 

135 

At  the  Falls  of  Niagara, 

126 

Hennepin's  falsehoods,    . 

135 

A-'isits  Albany, 

126 

List  of  editions  of  his  travels, 

136 

La  Salle  launches  the  Griffin,  . 

127 

Calliere's  opinion  of  Hennepin, 

137 

He  builds  Fort  Crevecoeur, 

127 

Louis  XIV.  orders  his  arrest,  . 

137 

Sends  Hennepin  to  Upper  3Iis- 

Hennepin  in  Italy, 

137 

sissippi,        .... 

127 

DuLuth, discoverer  of  Mille  Lac, 

138 

Hennepin  seized  by  the  Dahko- 

Du  Luth  in  France, 

138 

tahs, 

128 

Du  Luth  at  Mackinavr,    . 

138 

Indians  astonished  at  prayer- 

Perrot  near  the  mouth  of  Wis- 

book,     

129 

consin,         .... 

138 

First  mention  of  a  Dahkotah 

Droll  strategy  of  Dahkotahs,  . 

139 

■word, 

129 

Miamies  bring  lead. 

1.39 

Hennepin  at  Lake  Pepin, 

130 

Du    Luth   and    Perrot  obtain 

Old  mode  of  kindling  fire, 

130 

allies  for  Iroquois  war, 

139 

Indians  land  near  St.  Paul,     . 

131 

Louis  XIV.  censures  Du  Luth 

140 

Journey  to  Mille  Lac, 

131 

Du  Luth  at  a  post  above  De- 

Hennepin's robe,     . 

131 

troit,    

140 

Sweating  cabin. 

132 

Du  Luth  and  Tonty  at  Detroit, 

141 

Astonishment     at     mariner's 

Du  Luth  captures  Englishmen, 

141 

compass,      .... 

132 

Du  Luth  in  New  York,    . 

141 

The  mystery  of  an  iron  pot,    . 

132 

Afflicted  with  gout, 

142 

Amazement  at  writing,  . 

133 

Notice  of  his  death. 

142 

CHAPTER  VIL 


Formal  occupation  of  Minne- 
sota  

First  official  document,    . 

Boisguillot  at  the  "Wisconsin, 

Mantantons,    .... 

First  French  post  in  Minnesota, 

Frontenac's  opposition  to  Je- 
suits,      

Perrot  visits  Montreal,    . 

Grand  feast  of  Frontenac, 


Frontenac  sings  the  war  song, 

147 

143 

Long-expected  furs. 

147 

143 

Le  Sueur  at  La  Pointe,   . 

148 

144 

Second  post  in  Minnesota, 

148 

144 

First  Dahkotah  in  Montreal,    . 

143 

145 

Ojibway  chief  from  La  Pointe, 

148 

His  speech,      .... 

149 

145 

Dahkotah's  speech. 

149 

146 

Dahkotah  woman  in  Montreal, 

150 

146 

Dahkotah  chief  dies, 

151 

CONTENTS. 


Le  Sueur  goes  to  France,  .  151 
Perrot  about  to  be  burned,  .  151 
Le  Sueur's  mining  project,      .     152 


Louis  XIV.  revokes  his  license,     153 
Le    Sueur's    second    visit    to 
France,        ....     153 


CHAPTER  VIIL 


D'lberville  Governor  of  Loui- 

siana,   

154 

Relative  of  Le  Sueur,     . 

154 

Le  Sueur  arrives  with  miners, 

154 

Ascends  the  Mississippi, 

154 

Marest's  letter  to  Le  Sueur, 

154 

Le  Sueur  meets  Dahkotah  war- 

riors,  .... 

155 

At  the  mines  near  Galena, 

155 

Canadians   attacked  by   Wis 

cousin  Indians,    . 

156 

Le  Sueur  at  mouth  of  Wiscon 

sin, 

156 

War     party    returning     from 

L 

Minnesota,  . 

157 

Le  Sueur  at  Chippeway  river 

158 

Lake  Pepin,    . 

159 

Cannon  river. 

.     159 

La  Place,  a  deserter,  killed  bj 

Dahkotahs, 

160 

Denis,  Canadian  voyageur. 

.     160 

St.  Croix  river  named  after  a 

Frenchman, 

161 

River  St.  Pierre  entered, 

161 

Blue  Earth  river,     . 

.     162 

Post  established. 

.     162 

Dahkotahs  desire  a  post  neai 

Mendota, 

162 

Dahkotahs  described, 

163 

Fort  L'lluillicr  finished, 

164 

Dahkotahs  sue  for  favour, 

Canoes  filled  with  blue  earth, 

Mautantons  visit  the  post, 

M'dewakantons  at  Mille  Lac, 

Assineboines, 

loways    and    Ottoes     moving 

west,    .... 
Dahkotahs  mourn  the  death  o 

Tioscat§, 
Le  Sueur  makes  presents, 
Cultivation   of  the  earth  pro- 
posed, 
Mantantons  give  a  feast, 
M'dewakantons  at  the  post, 
Catalogue    of    Dahkotah    vil 

lages, 
Le  Sueur  returns  to  Gulf  of 

Mexico, 
Acccorapanies    D'Iberville   to 

France,        ... 
D'Iberville's  manuscript, 
State  of  the  tribes, 
Census  of  Indians,  Mississip 

pi  valley, 
Frenchmen  should  not  follow 

Indians, 
Canada  and  Louisiana  govern 

ments. 
Workmen  leave  Mahkahto, 
Le  Sueur's  death,    . 


164 
165 
165 
165 
166 

166 

167 
168 

168 
168 
169 

170 

171 

171 
171 
172 

173 

173 

174 
175 
175 


CHAPTER    IX. 
Westward  tendency  of  Dahko- 


talis,    ..... 

Sauk    and    Fox    hostility    to 

French,        .... 


176 


176 


Sauks  and  Foxes  defeated  by 
Dahkotahs  and  luways,        .     176 

Language  of  the  Foxes,  not 
Algonquin,  .         .         .     176 


CONTENTS. 


Foxes  attack  Detroit,  .  .  177 
Their  repulse,  .         .         .     177 

Defeat  near  Lake  St.  Clair,  .  178 
Louvigny     invades    the     Fox 

country,  ....  178 
Foxes  break  their  treaty,  .  179 
Licenses  to  traders  renewed,  .  179 
Prediction  of  English  mastery,  179 
Captain  St.  Pierre  sent  to  La 

Pointe,  .         .         .         .180 

De    Lignery   concludes    peace 

with  Foxes,  .         .         .180 

Peace  between  Ojibways  and 

Dahkotahs,  .  .  .  .181 
La  Pointe  Ojibways  at  Mon- 
treal,     181 

Foxes  again  faithless,  .  .  182 
Lake    Pepin    re-occupied    by 

French 183 

Importance  of  the  post  urged,  184 
DeLignery's  expedition  against 

Foxes,  .        .        .        .185 

Foxes  leave  their  country,       .     186 


Father  Guignae  captured. 
Returns  to  Lake  Pepin,  . 
EstaVjlishment  at  Lake  Ouini- 

pigon,  .         . 

Veranderie     discovers     Lake 
Winnipeg,   .         .         .         . 
Alleged  pillars  of  stone, 
Alton's  letter  on  stone  heaps, 
Stone  heaps  near  Pied  Wing,   . 
Dahkotahs  attack  Veranderie, 
Extermination  of  Foxes  deter- 
mined,        ,         .         .         . 
Moran,  captain  of  the  expedi- 
tion,    .         .         .         .        . 
Moran's  strategy,    . 
Final  defeat  of  the  Foxes, 
De  Lusignan  visits  Dahkotahs, 
Coureurs  des  bois  refuse  to  re- 
turn,    .... 
Trading-post  burned, 
St.  Pierre  at  Mackinaw, 
His  character, 
Escape  of  Indian  prisoners, 


186 
186 

186 

187 
187 
187 
188 
189 

189 

189 
190 
190 
191 

191 
191 
191 
191 
192 


CHAPTER  X. 


Canada  and  English  colonies 

at  war,         ....     193 
French  enlist  savages,     .         .     193 
Le  Due  robbed  at  Lake  Supe- 
rior,      194 

La  Ronde,  officer  at  La  Pointe,  194 
Veranderie  at  Fond  du  Lac,  .  194 
Marin  at  Green  Bay,  .  .  194 
List  of  Upper  Indian  allies,  .  194 
St.  Pierre  in  the  state  of  Penn- 
sylvania, ....  195 
Beaujeu   and  De    Lignery   at 

Fort  Duquesne,    .         .         .     195 
Beaujeu   killed  while   attack- 
ing Braddock,      .         .         .     195 
St.  Pierre  killed  at  Lake  Cham- 
plain,  195 


Langlade  of  Wisconsin,  at  Ti- 

conderoga,  .... 
loways  and  Ojibways  at  Ticon- 

deroga. 
List  of  Upper  Indians,    . 
Rogers  and  Jonathan  Carver 

at  Fort  George,    . 
Rogers's  amusing  note,   . 
Ojibways    returning,    die    of 

small-pox,    . 
French  deliver  up  their  posts, 
English  ti'oops  at  Green  Bay, 
Dahkotahs     visit,    and    make 

peace,  .... 
Penneshaw  a  French  trader. 
His  influence  with  Dahkotahs 
Friendly  to  the  English, 


196 

197 
197 

198 

198 

199 
199 
199 

199 
199 
200 
200 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    XI. 


Indians  partial  to  French  tra- 

Prediction of  speedy  route  to 

ders 

201 

New  York,  .... 

213 

Jonathan  Carver's  early  life,  . 

202 

Carver's  Pacific  route,     . 

214 

At  Fort  William  Henry,  . 

202 

Supposed  origin  of  Dahkotahs, 

214 

Visits  Mackinaw,     . 

202 

Analogies  of  language,   . 

21  r. 

Arrives  at  Green  Bay,     . 

202 

Carver's  death, 

215 

Carver's  description  of  Prairie 

Claim  of  his  heirs,  . 

215 

du  Chien,     .... 

203 

Marriage  of  Carver's  daughter. 

210 

Artificial  earth  works,     . 

203 

Alleged   deed   given   at   Cave 

Lake  Pepin 

206 

near  St.  Paul, 

216 

Nehogatawonahs,       Mawtaw- 

Agent  of  Carver's  heirs  mur- 

bauntowahs,    Shashweento- 

dered,  ... 

216 

•wahs, 

206 

Rev.  Samuel  Peters  purchases 

Carver's  Cave  in  suburb  of  St. 

Carver  claim, 

217 

Paul, 

207 

Testimony  before  Senate  com- 

Indian burial  place. 

207 

mittee,         .... 

217 

Minnesota  river, 

208 

General  Leavenworth's  letter. 

218 

Falls  of  St.  Anthony  in  1766, 

208 

Indians   do  not  recognise  the 

Mound  near  St.  Paul  opened,  . 

208 

grant,           .... 

218 

Exploration  of  Carver's  Cave, 

208 

Frenchmen  cut  timber  on  Chip- 

Dahkotahs  at  Carver's  Cave,    . 

210 

peway,         .... 

219 

Speech  over  dead  chief,  . 

211 

Report  of  Senate  committee  in 

Versification,  by  Schiller, 

212 

1823,   

211) 

Sir  Wm.  Johnson  in  relation 

British  government  prohibited 

to  Ojibways, 

212 

grants,          .... 

220 

Rogers   makes   a  treaty  with 

Lord  Palmerston  finds  no  pa- 

Dahkotahs and  Ojibways,    . 

213 

pers  about  the  grant,  . 

221 

CHAPTER  XIL 


Dahkotahs  formerly  at  Leech 
Lake,  .... 

Driven  from  Sandy  Lake, 
Fight  at  mouth  of  Crow  Wing, 
Pillagers,  origin  of  name. 
Battle  of  Falls  of  St.  Croix,     . 
Foxes  and  Dahkotahs  defeated, 
English  trader  killed  by  Dah- 
kotahs,        .... 
Murder  near  Mendota,    . 
British  withdraw  their  trade, 


222 
222 
222 
223 
223 
224 


226 


Wapashaw, 

Determines  to  visit  Quebec, 

Delivers  himself, 

Winters  in  Canada, 

AVapashaw  dies  an  exile, 

Depeyster    commands    Mack 

inaw,  .... 
Wapashaw  visits  him, 
Song  for  Wapashaw, 
Troop  leaves  Mackinaw, 
Langlade  at  Prairie  du  Chien, 


226 
227 

227 
227 

228 

228 
228 
228 
229 
229 


Wapashaw  at  Prairie  du  Chien, 

1780,   .... 
Speech  to  the  Foxes, 
Peltries   taken   by  British  to 

Mackinaw, 
M'dewakantonwans     in     one 

band,  .... 
Penneshaw's  village, 
History   of    North-west   Com 

pany,  .... 
Clerks,    .... 
Pork  Eaters,    . 
Winterers, 
Kay  in  Minnesota, 
Kay  intoxicated. 


CONTENTS. 

Winters  at  Pine  river,     . 

234 

230 

Kay  stabbed  by  an  Indian,     . 

235 

230 

Perrault  and  Harris  at  Leech 

Lake, 

236 

230 

Dubuque  at  Prairie  du  Chien, 

236 

The  lead  mines  of  Dubuque,  . 

236 

231 

Renville,  Grignon,  and  Dick- 

231 

son,      

Perlier  falls  in  love  on  the  St. 

236 

231 

Croix,           .... 

237 

232 

North-west  Company  build  at 

232 

Sandy  Lake, 

238 

232 

British  do  not  surrender  posts. 

238 

233 

Jay's  treaty,    .... 

239 

233 


CHAPTER  XIIL 


Indiana  organized, 

Louisiana  transferred,     . 

Territory  of  Upper  Louisiana, 

Territory  of  Michigan,   . 

First  United  States  officer  in 
Minnesota,  .... 

Pike's  expedition,   . 

Pike  at  Kaposia, 

J.  B.  Faribault,  sketch  of 

Sketch  of  Fisher,  the  trader. 

Pike's  council  on  island. 

Articles  of  treaty,  . 

Pike's  speech  to  Dahkotahs,    . 

Flag  lost,         .... 

Portage  at  Falls  of  St.  An- 
thony, .... 

Sergeant  breaks  a  blood-vessel, 

Pike's  block  house, 

Complaints  against  Dickson,   . 

Dickson  visits  Pike, 

Ascent  of  the  Mississippi, 

Sled  falls  into  the  river. 

Baggage  wet. 

Ignorance  and  inattention  of 
voyageurs,  .... 

Ojibway  encampment 


240 

Pike's  indignation  at  British 

240 

flag, 

255 

241 

Tent  on  fire,    .... 

256 

241 

Sandy  Lake,    .... 
North-west  Company's  post  at 

256 

241 

Sandy  Lake  described. 

257 

241 

Arrival  from  Fond  du  Lac, 

258 

242 

Leech  Lake,    .... 

259 

242 

North-west  Company's  post,    . 

259 

242 

American  flag  hoisted,    . 

259 

2-13 

English  flag  lowered, 

260 

243 

Council  with  Ojibways,  . 

260 

244 

Pike  at  Red  Cedar  Lake, 

261 

248 

Shabby  actions  of  Pike's  ser- 

geant,          .... 

262 

248 

Peculiar  hospitality, 

265 

249 

Arrival  at  mouth  of  Minnesota, 

266 

249 

Carver's  Cave  not  found. 

267 

250 

Conference  with  Little  Crow, 

268 

251 

Pike  at  Red  Wing, 

269 

252 

The  murderer,  Roman  Nose,  . 

270 

253 

Pike  ascends  the  Barn  bluff,   . 

271 

253 

Pike  visits  Wapashaw.    . 

272 

Pike  at  Prairie  du  Chien, 

273 

254 

Ball  play,        .... 

274 

254 

Red  Thunder,  Yankton  chief, 

275 

CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


Traders  disregards  Pike's  in- 
structions,  ... 

Cameron,  principal  trader, 

His  grave, 

Milor,  old  voyageur. 

His  perilous  journey, 

Indians  combine  against  Uni 
ted  States,  ... 

Nicholas  Jarrot, 

Messengers  from  Tecumseh, 

Dickson,  his  character  and  in 
fluence,        ... 

Dickson  a  British  partisan, 

Mackinaw  surprised, 

Rolette  and  Langlade  present, 

Kaposia  and  Wapashaw  bands 
at  Fort  Meigs, 

Refuse  to  eat  an  American, 

Americans   fortify  Prairie  du 
Chien,  .         .         .         . 

Site  of  Fort  Shelby, 

British  attack  the  fort,    . 

Joseph  Rolette,  British  guide, 

Americans  capitulate,      .     '    . 

Americans  attacked  near  Rock 
Island,         .... 

Fort  Shelby  called  McKay,     . 


Zachary  Taylor  retreats  from 
276         Rock  Island, 
276     Daring  of  Paul  Harpole, 
276     One-eyed  Sioux, 

276  Dickson  imprisons  him,  . 

277  British    evacuate    Prairie   du 

Chien, 

278  Sketch  of  one-eyed  Sioux, 

278  Dickson  at  Lake  Traverse, 

279  Prejudice  against  Selkirk, 
O'Fallon's  letter, 

279  Dickson's  character  misrepre 

280  sented, 

280     Ramsay  Crooks  on  Dickson, 

280  Wapashaw   and    Little    Crow 

visit  British, 

281  Treaty  of  Portage  des  Sioux, 

282  Astor    organizes    a  fur   com- 

pany,   

283  History  of  Astor's  company,  . 

283  Lockwood  trader  in  Minnesota, 

284  Indian  trade  in  1816,       . 

284  First  grist-mill  above  Prairie 

285  du  Chien,     .         .         .         . 
Saw-mill  on  Black  river, 

285     Spartan  conflict  of  Ojibways, 
285 


286 
286 
286 
287 

287 
288 
287 
290 
290 

291 
291 

292 
293 

293 
293 
294 
294 

298 
298 
298 


CHAPTER  XV. 


Red  River  difiBculties, 

Early  posts  on  the  northern 
border,         .... 

Formation  of  North-west  Com- 
pany,   

Earl  of  Selkirk's  project, 

Selkirk's  grant  described. 

Pioneers  of  Selkirk  colony, 

AYinter  at  Pembina, 

Colony  augmented. 

The  North-west  Company  op- 
pose  


300 

Duncan  Cameron,  . 

Selkirk      storehouse      broken 

305 

300 

open,  

First  Selkirk  emigrants  Pres- 

306 

301 

byterians,    .... 

306 

301 

Colonists  driven  away,    . 

307 

302 

Return  to  Red  river. 

308 

303 

Earl     of    Selkirk     comes     to 

303 

America,      .... 

308 

304 

Messenger  to  Red  river  robbed. 

309 

Governor  Scmple  attacked, 

310 

305 

Massacre  of  liis  party,    . 

311 

CONTENTS. 


Selkirk  settlers  again  exiled,  .  312 

Owen  Keveny  seized,      .         .  312 

Ilis  murder,  ....  313 
His  trunks  opened  and  papers 

read, 313 

Earl    of    Selkirk  seizes    Fort 

William 314 

John  Tanner  discovered,  .  314 
Sketch  of  Tanner,   .         .         .314 

Selkirk's  interest  in  Tanner,  .  315 


Sufferings  at  Pembina,  1817, 

1818, 315 

Grasshopper  invasion,  .  .  31G 
Complete  devastation,  .  .  316 
Mackinaw  boats  from  Prairie 

du  Chien  to  Pembina,          .     317 
Selkirk's  agent  visits  Switzer- 
land  318 

Compromise  of  Hudson   Bay 
and  North-west  Company,  .     318 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


United  States  fortify  the  North- 

Chief offers  himself  as  a  substi- 

west,    

319 

tute  for  son. 

328 

Orders  to  proceed  to  Mendota, 

319 

Solemnity  of  surrender. 

329 

Crawford   county,  Wisconsin, 

Saw-mill  in  Chippeway  valley, 

330 

organized,    .... 

320 

Columbia  Fur  Company  form- 

Colonel  Leavenworth  ascends 

cd, 

330 

Mississippi, 

320 

Names  of  partners. 

330 

Primitive  mode  of  living, 

320 

Mill  at  Minneapolis, 

331 

Troops   move  to  Camp   Cold- 

J.    R.    Brown    visits    Minne 

water,          .... 

321 

Tonka 

331 

Lumber  cut  on  Eum  river, 

322 

Family  of  Hess  murdered. 

332 

Cass  expedition, 

322 

Rescue  of  a  daughter,     . 

332 

Negro  and  Indian  offspring,    . 

322 

Swiss  come  to  United  States, 

Arrival  of  Cass  at  Sandy  Lake, 

323 

from  Red  river,    . 

333 

At  Upper  Red  Cedar  Lake,     . 

323 

First   steamboat  above    Rock 

This  lake  the  supposed  source 

Island,         .         .         .         . 

334 

of  Mississippi,     . 

323 

Passengers  on  board. 

334 

Emaciated  and  suffering  voy- 

Grand  illumination, 

335 

ageur,          .... 

324 

Arrival  of  steamboat  at  Men- 

Buffalo hunt  above  Elk  river. 

324 

dota 

336 

Cass  at  Fort  Snelling,      . 

325 

Astonishment  of  natives. 

336 

Description  of  Little  Crow,     . 

326 

Reminiscences  of  Taliaferro,  . 

oo>7 

Red  AVing  and  Wapashaw  in 

Origin  of  name  Lake  Calhoun 

1820 

327 

and  Harriet, 

338 

Colonel  Snelling  met  by  Cass, 

327 

Flat  Mouth  at  Fort  Snelling,  . 

339 

First  infant  of  European  pa- 

Penneshaw's mother  kills  Ojib- 

rents,  .... 

327 

way  girl,      .         .         .         . 

340 

Wanata  hostile, 

328 

CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


Major    Long's    expedition    to 

Theory  of  old  geographers  in 

Red  river,    .... 

341 

relation  to  what  constitutes 

Arrival  at  Fort  Snelling, 

341 

the  sources  of  a  stream. 

300 

Renville,  interpreter, 

342 

Beltrami  leaves  Red  Lake, 

307 

J.  Snelling,  assistant, 

342 

Table  land  of  North  America, 

308 

Beltrami,  Italian  refugee, 

342 

Beltrami  discoverer  of  northern 

Arrival  at  Big  Stone  Lake,     . 

342 

source  of  Mississippi, 

309 

Wanata's  appearance  and  cha- 

Beautiful description. 

370 

racter,          .... 

343 

Indian  stories  unreliable. 

371 

AVanata's  vow  to  the  Sun, 

344 

Beltrami      suggests     western 

Cuttings  of  the  flesh, 

344 

source  of  Mississippi, 

371 

"Wanata  feasts  Long  and  party, 

340 

Leech  Lake  described,     . 

372 

Dog  meat  presented, 

347 

Interview  of  the  Italian  with 

Origin  of  word  Pembina, 

348 

Pillagers 

373 

Boundary  line   at  that  point 

Pike  makes  Leech  Lake  source 

fixed, 

348 

of  Mississippi,     . 

374 

Tanner  wounded  by  an  Indian, 

349 

Beltrami's  tribute  to  Pike, 

375 

Beltrami  separates  from  Major 

William  Morrison's  letter, 

375 

Long, 

349 

Morrison  at  Leech  Lake,  1802, 

375 

Returns  by  way  of  Red  Lake, 

350 

iMorrison  at  Lake  Itasca,  1804, 

370 

Beltrami's  characteristics, 

350 

Wintered  there  in  1811-12,     . 

370 

Beltrami  deserted  by  his  guides, 

353 

Beltrami  at  Sandy  Lake, 

377 

Awkward  attempt  at  paddling, 

354 

Government  mill,    . 

378 

The  difficulties  of  travel, 

355 

Beltrami  returns  to  Fort  Snel- 

Indians' astonishment  at  um- 

ling,      

379 

brella,          .... 

357 

Cordial  reception,    . 

380 

Ludicrous  appearance  of  Bel- 

Accuracy of  Beltrami's  map,  . 

380 

trami,          .... 

357 

Underrated  by  Long  and  Keat> 

Fear  of  the  Dahkotahs,  . 

358 

ing, 

380 

Beltrami  at  Red  Lake,    . 

359 

Findlay  and  party   killed   at 

Dogs  tear  his  clothing,    . 

3G0 

Lake  Pepin, 

381 

Ojibways  mourn  the  loss  of  a 

Degraded  state  of  traders  and 

brave,           .... 

301 

Indians,       .... 

382 

Ilalf-brced  hut  described. 

302 

Traders     among     Dahkotahs, 

Notice  of  Red  river, 

303 

1825-20,      .... 

382 

Topography  of  Red  Lake, 

304 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 


Prairie    du    Chion    treaty  of  Boundary  fixed  between  Dah- 

1825, 383        kotahs  and  Ojibways,  .         .     383 


CONTENTS. 


Fond  du  Lac  treaty,  1826,        .  384 
Commissioners   Cass   and  Mc- 

Kenney,        ....  384 
Aged  ■woman  scalped  when  a 

girl, 385 

Woman  in  council,  .  .  385 
Agreement  to  deliver  up  mur- 
derers, ....  386 
Cass  orders  a  canoe,  .  .  386 
Building  of  birch  bark  canoe,  387 
3Iurderers  surrender  them- 
selves, ....  387 
Severe  snow  storm,  1825,         .  388 

Famine, 388 

Freshet  in  Red  River  valley,  .  389 

Swiss  emigrants  home-sick,     .  389 
Swiss  move  to  vicinity  of  St. 

Paul, 390 

Swiss,  the  first  farmers  in  Min- 
nesota,        ....  390 
Ojibways  at  Fort  Snelling,  1826,  391 
Slaughtered  by  the  Dahkotahs,  391 
Ojibway  revenge,    .         .         .  392 


Dahkotah  coward,  .         .         .  393 
Ti'oops  removed  from   Prairie- 

du  Chien,     .         .         .         .394 
Methode  and  family  killed,     .  394 
Red  Bird  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  395 
Attempts   to  kill   jMrs.  Lock- 
wood,   395 

Murders  the  Gagnier  family,  .  395 

Dahkotahs  unruly,           .         .  390 

Winnebagoes  attack  keel -boats,  390 

The  father's  wail,    .         .         .  397 
Fort  Crawford  put  in  a  state 

of  defence,  ....  397 

Cass  at  Buttes  des  Morts,        .  397 
Soldiers    march    from    Green 

Bay, 398 

General  Atkinson  starts  for  the 

scene,           ....  398 

Red  Bird  described,         .         .  398 
His  dress,        .         .         .         .399 

The  surrender,         .         .         .  399 

Death  in  prison,       .         .         .  399 


CHAPTER   XIX. 


Prairie  du  Chien  treaty,  1830, 

Half-breed  tract  of  Lake  Pe- 
pin,       

Attempt  to  erect  a  mill,  . 

Holmes  builds  a  mill  on  Chip- 
pewa river, 

Schoolcraft  visits  Ojibways  in 
1831, 

Snake  river  chief,    . 

Schoolcraft's  expedition  of 
1832, 

Associates  of  Schoolcraft, 

Child  of  Rev.  S.  Hall,  first 
child  of  pure  European  stock 
on  Lake  Superior, 

Portage  of  St.  Louis  river. 

Strength  of  Indian  women,     . 

Dahkotah  scalp  at  Cass 
Lake, 


400 

Grand  scalp  dance. 

406 

Indian  burial  place, 

406 

400 

Elk  or  Itasca  Lake, 

407 

400 

Lieut.  Allen  surveys  and  makes 

a  map,          .... 

407 

401 

Allen's  canoe  upsets. 

408 

Flat  Mouth's  lodge  at  Leech 

401 

Lake, 

408 

402 

Vaccination  of  Indians, 

409 

Beautiful  country,  . 

409 

403 

Good  soil,         .... 

410 

403 

Falls  of  St.  Anthony, 
Schoolcraft  talks  with  Dahko- 

410 

tahs,    

411 

404 

Haste  of  Schoolcraft, 

411 

404 

Hostile    intentions    of    Black 

404 

Hawk,          .... 

Dahkotahs,    allies    of   United 

412 

405 

States,          .... 

412 

CONTENTS. 


Black  Hawk  routed  by  Dodge, 
Battle  of  Bad  Axe, 
General  Z.  Taylor  present, 
Preservation  of  Indian  babe, 
Black  Hawk  surrenders, 
Alleged  speech  of  that  chief, 
First  land  mail  to  Fort  Snel- 

ling,  .... 

Traders  in  Minnesota,  1833-34, 
Missouri  Territory  attached  to 

Michigan,     .         .         .         . 
"Wisconsin  Territory  organized, 
Iowa  organized, 
George  Catlin,  the  artist, 
Featherstonliaugh,  geologist,   . 
Nicollet,  the  astronomer. 


412  Nicollet's  early  life,         .         .  417 

413  Arrival  in  Minnesota,      .         .  417 

413  Pillagers  molest  Nicollet,         .  418 

414  Rev.  Mr.  Boutwell  assists  him,  418 
414  Nicollet  visits  Itasca  Lake,      .  418 

414  Surveys  the  sources  of  Itasca,  418 
Explorations    beyond    School- 

415  craft, 419 

415  Devotion  to  science,         .         .  410 
Nicollet's  second  tour,     .         .  419 

416  J.  C.  Fremont,  his  assistant,  ,  419 
410  Valuable  map,  .  .  .  420 
416  Leech   Lake  Ojibways  kill  a 

410        trader,  .         .         .         .421 

416  Sibley's  tribute  to  Nicollet,  .  421 
417 


CHAPTER   XX. 


History  of  missions, 

422 

Mode  of  carrying  goods  at  a 

Frontispiece   of  La  Hontan's 

portage,       .... 

429 

travels,        .... 

422 

Mr.  Ayer   arrives   at  Yellow 

Savages  no  regard  for  law. 

422 

Lake, 

431 

Youth  trained  to  war, 

423 

Rev.  "W.  T.  Boutwell  at  Leech 

Error  in  the  teachings  of  Mar- 

Lake  

432 

quette,         .... 

423 

First  mission  in  Minnesota  west 

Rev.  Dr.  Morse  visits  Macki- 

of Mississippi, 

432 

naw,    

424 

E.  F.  Ely,  teacher  at  Sandy 

Rev.  Mr.  Ferry  opens  mission 

Lake, 

432 

school,          .... 

424 

Indian  children  in  missionary's 

On  manual  labour  principle,    . 

424 

lap 

433 

"Warren  trader  at  La  Pointe,  . 

425 

Indians  laugh  at  missionary,  . 

434 

Introduction    of    missionaries 

Number  and  locality  of  Leech 

by  him 

425 

Lake  Indians, 

435 

Rev.  Sherman  Hall, 

425 

Fish  of  the  Lake,     . 

436 

Mr.  Frederic  Ayer, 

425 

Wild  rice,        .... 

436 

Mode  of  travel  through  Lake 

Soil  around  the  lake, 

436 

Superior,      .... 

426 

Danger  of  gifts  to  the  Indians, 

437 

Rev.   S.   Hall's  arrival  at  La 

Polygamy  common. 

43S 

Pointe,         .... 

427 

Mr.  Boutwell  married,     . 

439 

Aitkin   requests    a    school   at 

Primitive  mode  of  life,    . 

440 

Sandy  Lake, 

428 

Jesuits  did  not  stay  with  Dali- 

Hall's  tour  to  Oakes'  trading 

kotaha,          .... 

441 

post, 

428 

S.  "W.  Pond 

441 

CONTENTS. 


G.  H.  Pond,  .  .  .  .441 
First  to  labour  for  the  welfare 

of  Dahkotahs,  .  .  .  441 
Rev.  T.  S.  Williamson,  M.  D.,  442 
Arrives  at  Fort  Snelling,  May, 

1835,  .  .  .  .  '.  442 
First  church  and  communion 

in  Minnesota,  .  .  .  443 
Indian  mode  of  gathering  corn,  443 
Fondness    of    Dahkotahs    for 

meat, 444 


Rev.  J,  D.  Stevens  preaches  at 

Fort  Snelling,      .         .         .     445 
Indian  mourning  at  Lake  Har- 
riet,       445 

Mourners  cut  their  flesh,  .  446 
Church  at  Fort  Snelling,  .  440 
Indian  school  at  Lake  Harriet,  447 
Presbyterian  church,  Lac  qui 

Parle, 447 

Rev.  S.  R.  Riggs  joins  the  mis- 
sion,     447 


CHAPTER  XXL 


Buffaloes  unknown   in  Lower 

G.  H.  Pond  buries  slaughtered 

Canada,        .... 

448 

Dahkotahs, 

455 

Rumour  in   relation  to   lions' 

Ojibways  chase  lumbermen,    . 

45G 

skins, 

448 

First    steamboat    in    the    St. 

Marquette's  description  of  the 

Croix,           .... 

45G 

buffalo,         .... 

448 

Ratification  of  treaty  of  1837, 

45G 

First  engraving  of  the  buffalo. 

449 

Marine  mills. 

45G 

Hudson  BayCo.  buffalo  hunters, 

449 

Dahkotah  killed  at  Lake  Har- 

Carts of  the  half-breeds. 

449 

riet,     

457 

Hunters'  camp  described, 

450 

Battles    of    Rum    river    and 

Rules  of  the  camp. 

450 

Stillwater,   .... 

457 

Great  buffalo  hunt  in  Minne- 

Settlers on  Fort  Snelling  re- 

sota,      

450 

serve,           .... 

458 

Last  buffalo  east  of  Mississippi, 

451 

Forcible  ejection,     . 

459 

Pemmican,      .... 

451 

Death   of  Arctic   explorer  in 

Dickson's  proposed  invasion,  . 

452 

Minnesot.a, 

460 

McLeod  and  Bottineau's  peri- 

Supposed insanity. 

461 

lous  journey. 

452 

J.  R.  Brown  makes  a  claim 

Swiss    missionaries     at     Red 

near  Stillwater,   . 

462 

Wing,           .... 

452 

St.  Croix  county,     . 

463 

Methodist  mission  at  Kaposia, 

452 

Lake  Pokeguma,     . 

463 

Treaty  of  1837  with  Ojibways, 

453 

Mission  at  Pokeguma,     . 

464 

Dahkotah  treaty  of  1837, 

453 

Pleasing  prospect,  . 

464 

Faribault's     claim     to     Pike 

Little    Crow's    son  killed    at 

Island,          .... 

453 

Falls  of  St.  Croix, 

465 

Baker,  Taylor,  and   Steele  at 

Battle  of  Lake  Pokeguma, 

466 

Falls  of  St.  Croix, 

453 

Daring  feat,     .... 

467 

Yisit  of  Captain  Maryatt, 

453 

Scene  after  the  fight, 

468 

Small-pox  among  Dahkotahs, 

454 

Christian  burial,     . 

468 

Ojibway  attack  below  St.  Paul, 
Mr.  Ayer  visits  Red  Lake, 
Governor  Doty  makes  treaties 

with  Dahkotahs,  . 
Stillwater  commenced,    . 
Captain   Allen's  tour  to  Big 

Sioux,  .         .         .         . 

Mill  at  Little  Canada,  . 
Drovers  lose  their  way,  . 
Captain  Sumner  and  dragoons 

visit  Red  River, 
I\Iurderer  of  one  of  the  drovers 

arrested,      .         .         .         . 
Death  of  Joseph  Renville, 
Sketch  of  Renville, 
One-eyed  whiskey-seller. 
Residence  at  St.  Paul, 
His  shanty  called  Pig's  Eye,  . 
Henry  Jackson  settles  at  St. 

Paul, 


CONTENTS. 

xxi 

469 

Roberts  and  J.  W.  Simpson,    . 

480 

470 

Little  Crow  requests  a  mission- 

ary,      

480 

470 

Dr.  Williamson  comes  to  Ka- 

471 

posia,           .... 

480 

Procures  a  teacher  for  St.  Paul, 

481 

472 

Miss  H.  E.  Bishop, 

482 

472 

First  school-room  in  St.  Paul, 

482 

472 

First  court  in  St.  Croix  county, 

Wisconsin,  .... 

483 

472 

Rev.  Mr.  Boutwell  moves  near 

Stillwater,   .... 

483 

473 

n.  M.  Rice  selects  a  new  home. 

474 

for  Winnebagoes, 

483 

474 

Winnebago  removal, 

484 

475 

Halt  at  Wapashaw, 

484 

476 

Excitement,     .... 

485 

478 

Battle  array, 

486 

Winnebagoes  arrive  at  Watab, 

487 

479 


CHAPTER   XXIL 


Act  for  Wisconsin  to  form  a 
constitution,         .         .         .     488 

Bill  for  organization  of  Minne- 
sota, 1846,   .         .         .         .488 

Sioux  and  Red  River  of  North, 
proposed  boundary,        .  488 

Wisconsin  desires  to  extend  to 
Rum  river,  ....     488 

Remonstrance  of  citizens  of  St. 
Croix,  .         .         .         .489 

Wisconsin  admitted  into  the 
Union,  .         .         .         .490 

Debate  on  the  name  of  Minne- 
sota Territory,     .         .         .     490 

Discussion  on  territorial  organ- 
ization,        ....     490 

First  meeting  in  St.  Paul,        .     490 

Public  meeting  at  Stillwater,  .     490 

Catlin's  letter  to  Holcombc,     .     491 

Catlin  resides  at  Stillwater,     .     492 


The  delegate  from  Wisconsin 
resigns,        .... 

H.  II.  Sibley  elected  successor, 

Minnesota  Territory  created, 
March  3,  1849,     . 

Boundaries  of  territory. 

Sparse  settlements, 

St.  Paul  in  1849,     . 

Steamer  brings  news  of  the  ex- 
istence of  Minnesota  Terri- 
tory,     

Joyful  demonstrations,    . 

Goodhue  arrives  with  ]m-oss,    . 

Governor  Ramsey  and  family 
arrive,  .... 

List  of  early  citizens  at  the 
capital,         .... 

First  newspaper,     . 

Sketch  of  Governor  Ramsey,  . 

Anna  Earl  Ramsey, 


492 
492 

492 
492 
493 
494 


494 
494 
494 

495 

495 
495 
496 
497 


CONTENTS. 


Sketch  of  Governor  Siblej,     . 

Notice  of  Mrs.  Sibley,     . 

Sketch  of  H.  M.  Rice,  U.  S. 
Senator,       .... 

Notice  of  Mrs.  Rice, 

Franklin  Steele, 

Notice  of  Mrs.  Steele,     . 

Fish  dance  at  Kaposia,    . 

Proclamation  of  Governor  Ram- 
sey, organizing  the  terri- 
tory,     

C.  K.  Smith,    .... 

A.  Goodrich,    .... 

D.  Cooper,       .... 

B.  B.  Meeker, 

J.  L.  Taylor,  .... 
H.  L.  Moss,  .... 
Temporary  judicial  districts,  . 
Major  Wood's  expedition  to 
Pembina,  .... 
Governor  Ramsey  commences 
housekeeping  at  St.  Paul,  . 
H.  M.  Rice  and  family  remove 

to  St.  Paul, 
Fourth  of  July  at  St.  Paul,     . 
First  census,    .... 
Recognition   and   death   of   a 

young  chief, 
Indian  fight  in  Cheyenne  val- 
ley,       

Tipsinna  or  Dahkotah  turnip, 
H.  M.  Rice  transports  goods 

by  horse-boats,     . 
First  election, 

A.  M.  Mitchell,  U.  S.  Marshal, 
Vote  at  first  election, 
Nevrspapers,  when  established. 
Old  printing  press, 
Court  at  Stillwater, 


497  Court  at  Minneapolis, 

498  Court  at  Mendota,  . 
Temperance     reform     among 

498         Dahkotahs, 

500     Session  of  first  legislature, 

500  Names,   age,   and   nativity  of 

501  members,     .... 

501  Officers  of  first  legislature. 
Governor  Ramsey's  message,  . 
Funeral  of  child  of  a  member 

502  of  legislature, 
502     Counties  formed,     . 

502     Resolution  in  relation  to  pipe 

502        stone  slab 

502     Sibley's    letter    on    red    pipe 
502        stone, 

502  History  of  Pipe  Stone  Quarry, 

503  Nicollet's   description    of    red 

pipe  stone,   .... 

503  Allusions  to  pipe  stone  in  Hia- 

watha, .... 

504  Territorial  seal  described. 
Captain  and  Mrs.  Eastman,     . 

504     Poem  by  Mrs.  Eastman, 

504    Ramsey  and  Chambers,  com- 

504  missioners  to  treat  with  In- 
dians,   

505  The  project  unsuccessful. 
Organization     of     Democratic 

506  party, 

506  Death  of  David  Lambert, 
Notice  of  D.  Lambert,     . 

507  Meeting  in  behalf  of  public 
507  schools,  .  .  .  . 
507     Names  of  first  school  teachers, 

507  County  elections,     . 

508  St.  Anthony  Library  Associa- 
508  elation,  .... 
509 


509 
509 

510 
511 

511 
511 
512 

512 
513 

513 

514 
514 

515 

515 
516 
516 
517 


518 
518 

518 
519 
519 

520 
520 
520 

521 


CHAPTER   XXIIL 

Historical  Society,  .         .         .     522     Carrier  Boys'   Address,   Jan. 

First  public  meeting  of  His-  1,  1850,        .         .         .         . 

torical  Society,     .         .         .     522     Marriage  at  Fort  Snelling, 


523 
523 


Road  by  land  to  Prairie  du 
Chien  opened, 

First  trial  for  murder,     . 

Apple  river  battle, 

Scalp  dance  in  Stillwater, 

Captive  boy  sent  back  by  Gov. 
Ramsey,       .... 

High  water  in  1850, 

"  IIole-in-the-Day"  scalps  near 
St.  Paul,       . 

First  Presbyterian  church 
burned,        .... 

Indian  council  at  Fort  Snelling, 

Description  of  council  ground, 

Speech  of  Governor  Ramsey,  . 

Dahkotah  rudeness, 

Ojibway  gallantry,  . 

Ojibways  visit  St.  Paul,  . 

Navigation  on  Minnesota  be- 
gun,      

Trip  of  the  Yankee, 

Steamer  at  Traverse  des  Sioux, 

Passengers  on  steamer,   . 

Steamer  at  Blue  Earth,  . 


CONTENTS. 

xxiii 

Supposed  buffaloes, 

537 

524 

Mosquitoes,     .         .         .         . 

537 

525 

Ice  fails  on  board  the  boat, 

538 

526 

Uncomfortable  night, 

538 

526 

Return  of  steamer,  . 

538 

Traverse  des  Sioux  in  1850,    . 

539 

526 

Shokpay's  village,  . 

540 

527 

The   ministry  needed  for  the 

West, 

541 

527 

Election  in  September,    . 

542 

Sibley  and  Mitchell  candidates. 

543 

528 

Sibley  elected  delegate  to  Con- 

528 

gress,  

543 

529 

Official  vote,    .... 

543 

530 

Miss  Bremer  visits  St.  Paul,    . 

543 

533 

Fredrika  Bremer's   sketch   of 

533 

the  capital, 

543 

534 

The    Dahkotah    Friend    pub- 

lished,         .... 

544 

534 

D.  A.  Robertson,     . 

544 

534 

Minnesota      Democrat      com- 

535 

menced,       .... 

544 

536 

C.  J.  Ileuniss,  editor, 

545 

537 

First  Thanksgiving  Day, 

545 

CHAPTER   XXIV 


Legislature  of  1851, 

546 

Age  and  birth-place  of  mem- 

bers of  the  legislature, 

546 

Editor  stabbed, 

547 

Bitter  party  feeling, 

547 

University  of  Minnesota, 

547 

Apportionment  bill. 

548 

Members  resign  their  seats, 

548 

Sufferings  of  Ojibways,  . 

549 

Mortality  at  Sandy  Lake, 

550 

lIulc-in-the-Day  addresses 

le- 

gislature,     . 

551 

Alleged  cannibalism, 

552 

Debate    on    school    lands 

at 

Washington, 

553 

Remarks  of  Stevens,  of  Penn- 

sylvania, 

554 

Sibley's  reply, 

Chronicle    and   Register   sus- 
pended,       .... 

Murder  of  Andrew  Swartz,     . 

Remarkable    escape     of    mur- 
derers,        .... 

First  newspaper    beyond  the 
capital,         .... 

Treaties  of  1851,     . 

Lea  and  Ramsey,  commission- 
ers,       

Rev.  Mr.  Hopkins  drowned,    . 

Thunder  Bird  dance, 

Treaty  at  Traverse  des  Sioux 
concluded,    .... 

Provisions  of  the  treaty, 

Treaty  at  Mcndota  concluded, 


555 


555 


55G 

556 
556 

556 
557 
558 

559 
559 
560 


Provisions  of  the  treaty, 
Indians  as  horse  purchasers,  . 
Shokpay  as  it  was  in  1851, 
New    paper    started     at     St. 
Paul, 


CONTENTS. 

5G0     J.  P.  Owens,  editor  of  Minne- 

561         sotian,          .... 

562 

562     October  election. 

563 

Second  Thanksgiving  Day, 

563 

502     Governor's  Proclamation, 

563 

CHAPTER  XXV. 


Legislature  of  1852, 

Names  of  members, 

Occupation  of  members, 

Liquor  law  enacted. 

Memorial  to  discontinue  "  St. 
Peter's"  as  a  name  of  Min- 
nesota river, 

Superintendent  of  Public  In- 
struction report. 

Number  of  school-houses  in 
Minnesota, 

Rae,  Arctic  explorer,  in  St. 
Paul, 

Exploration  between  Watab 
and  Long  Prairie, 


564 

Birch  Bark  Fort,     . 

571 

564 

Lake  Neill,      .... 

572 

564 

Special     election     on     liquor 

565 

law, 

572 

Vote  on  liquor  law. 

572 

Claims   before  ratification    of 

565 

treaties,        .... 

573 

Death  of  James  M.  Goodhue, 

574 

565 

Sketch  of  pioneer  editor, 

574 

Editorial  hoax, 

576 

569 

Trial  of  Yuhazee  for  murder,  . 

577 

Escort  of  dragoons, 

578 

570 

Judge      Ilayner's       decision 

against  liquor  law, 

579 

570 

CHAPTER  XXVL 


Legislature  of  1853, 

Officers  chosen. 

Governor  Ramsey's  last  mes- 
sage,     

Rapid  growth  of  Minnesota,   . 

Advantages  of  Minnesota, 

Hopeful  future. 

Prospective  railways, 

Roman  Catholic  petitions. 

Proposed  school  law. 

Counties  west  of  Mississippi,  . 

Baldwin  School, 

College  of  St.  Paul, 

Ojibway  and  Dahkotah  skir- 
mish at  the  capital. 

Burial  scaffold  at  Kaposia, 

Appointments  by  President 
Pierce,  .... 

Governor  W.  A.  Gorman, 


580    J.  T.  Rosser,  Secretary,  .         .     589 

580  W.  II.  Welch,  Chief  Justice,   .    589 
Moses  Sherburne,  Associate,  .     589 

581  A.  G.  Chatfield,  Associate,       .     589 

581  Indian  villages  below  St.  Paul, 

582  1853, 589 

583  Villages  near  Fort  Snelling,    .     590 

584  Alleged  fraud  of  Ramsey  and 

585  Sibley,         .         .         .         .590 

586  Presbyterian  missionaries 

587  among  Dahkotahs,        .         .     590 
587     Honourable     exculpation     of 

587         Ramsey  by   United    States 

Senate,         .         .         .         .591 

587  Robertson  retires  from  edito- 

588  rial  duties,  .         .         .         .591 
David  Olmsted,        ,         .         .591 

588  October  election  for  delegate,  .    591 

589  Official  vote,    .        .        .        .591 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 


New  political  coalitions, 

Legislature  of  1854, 

Governor  Gorman's  message,  . 

Members  of  legislature,  age 
and  birth-place,  . 

Mission-house  at  Lac  qui  Parle 
burned,        .... 

Minnesota  and  North-western 
Railroad  incorporated, 

E,  S.  Goodrich  becomes  editor 
of  Pioneer, 

Great  railroad  excursion. 

Names  of  distinguished  visiters. 

Pursuit  of  pleasure  under  diflS- 
culties,         .... 

Guests  at  Fort  Snelling, 

Speeches  of  Fillmore  and  Ban- 
croft,     


592 

Railroad  sermon,     . 

597 

592 

Railways  in  a  religious  view. 

599 

593 

Antidotes  to  bigotry. 

601 

Savers  of  time. 

603 

593 

Extend  Christianity, 

605 

Land  grant  of  Congress, 

606 

594 

Repeal  of  land  grant, 

607 

Debate  on  the  repeal. 

607 

594 

Rice's  letter  about  the  repeal, 
Minnesota  and   North-western 

610 

594 

Railroad  suit. 

610 

595 

Appeal  to   United  States  Su- 

595 

preme  Court, 

611 

Case  dismissed. 

611 

59G 

Execution  of  Yuhazee,    . 

611 

597 

Governor's  letter  to  ladies  de- 

clining to  pardon  Yuhazee, 

612 

597 


CHAPTER  XXVII L 


Legislature  of  1855, 

First  bridge  over  the  Missis- 
sippi,   

Wire  bridge,   .... 

Governor's  message. 

Governor  opposes  Minnesota 
and  North-western  Railroad 
Company,     .... 

United  States  Senate  refuse  to 
annul  charter  of  Minnesota 
and  North-western  Railroad, 

General  illumination, 

Governor  Gorman  vetoes  an 
act  amending  charter  of 
Minnesota  and  North-west- 
ern Railroad  Company, 

Act  passed  by  a  two-thirds 
vote, 

Formation  of  Republican  party. 


613 

W.    R.    Marshall    nominated 

delegate  to  Congress,  . 

614 

613 

David   Olmsted   candidate  for 

613 

Congress,     .         . 

614 

613 

H.  M.  Rice  elected  delegate,   . 

614 

Votes  for  delegate  enumerated, 

614 

Express    arrives   at   St.    Paul 

613 

with    relics    of     Sir     John 

Franklin,     .... 

615 

Legislature  of  1856, 

615 

613 

Railroad  discussion. 

615 

613 

Governor  Gorman  signs  a  bill 
giving  extension  of  time  to 
Minnesota  and  North-west- 

ern Railway  Compan}-, 

615 

614 

His  message  on  the  subject,    . 
List  of  members  of  Council  of 

615 

614 

1856, 

617 

614 

Members  of  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, 1856,  . 

State  organization  agitated  by 
J.  E.  Warren,      . 

Ojibways  scalp  Dahkotah  child 
at  a  farm-house. 

Legislature  of  1857, 

Presiding  officers  of  legislature , 

Bill  removing  capital  to  St. 
Peter  passes  the  House, 

Council  resolutions  of  Mr.  Bal- 
combe,  .... 

Rolette,  Chairman  of  Commit- 
tee of  Enrolled  Bills,  absent, 

Call  of  the  Council, 

Sergeant-at-arms  ordered  to 
report  absent  member  in  his 
•  seat,    ' 

Council  remains  in  session 
under  the  call  for  several 
days,  .... 

Last  night  of  session  proceed- 
ings under  the  call  dispensed 
■with, 

Committee  on  Enrolled  Bills 
report,  .... 

Report, 

Call  of  the  Council  again  moved. 

Under  the  call  the  session  ex- 
pired,   

Council  adjourned. 

Massacre  at  Spirit  Lake  and 
Springfield, 

Inkpadootah, 


CONTENTS. 

Indians  fire  house  of  settlers. 

622 

617 

The  inmates  killed, 

622 

Murder  of  the  Gardners, 

622 

618 

White  women  captives,    . 
United  States  troops  and  vol- 

623 

618 

unteers  bury  the  dead. 

623 

618 

Captive  women  maltreated, 

623 

618 

Mrs.  Thatcher  shot, 

Two  Indian  youths  rescue  Mrs. 

624 

618 

Marble,        .... 
Paul   and   party  rescue   Miss 

624 

619 

Gardner,      .... 

625 

Killing  of  Mrs.  Noble,    . 

625 

619 

Inkpadootah's  son  shot,  . 

626 

619 

Outlaws'    retreat  beyond    the 

Missouri,      .... 

626 

Enabling  act  passed  by  Con- 

619 

gress,  

620 

Special  session  of  legislature. 

626 

Election  for  delegates  to  form 

619 

constitution. 
Meeting  of  constitutional  con- 

636 

vention,        .... 

627 

620 

Division  into  two  bodies, 

627 

Compromise,   .... 

627 

620 

Constitution   adopted    by   the 

620 

people,         .... 

628 

021 

Meeting  of  first  state  legisla- 

ture,     

628 

621 

Election  of  United  States  Sen- 

621 

ators,  

Admission  of  Minnesota  into 

628 

621 

the  Union,   .... 

628 

621 


INTRODUCTORY. 


The  physical  characteristics  of  a  laud  should  be 
kuowu,  to  correctly  understand  the  history  of  its  people. 
In  an  important  sense,  when  the  skies  do  change,  men 
also  change.  Grand  scenery,  leaping  waters,  and  a 
bracing  atmosphere,  produce  men  of  different  cast  from 
those  who  dwell  where  the  land  is  on  a  dead  level,  and 
where  the  streams  are  all  sluggards.  We  associate 
heroes  like  Tell  and  Bruce  with  the  mountains  of  Swit- 
zerland and  the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  and  not  with 
regions  of  country  where  the  outline  is  unbroken,  and 
the  horizon  appears  as  a  continuation  of  the  earth. 

Minnesota  occupies  the  elevated  plateau  of  North 
America;  and  from  its  gently  sloj^ing  plains  descend 
the  rivulets  that  feed  the  mighty  Mississippi,  that  flows 
into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico;  the  noble  St.  Lawrence, 
emptying  its  volume  into  the  iVtlantic;  and  the  wind- 
ing Red  River  of  the  North,  flowing  into  Hudson's  Bay. 
It  extends  from  43"  30'  to  49°  north  latitude,  and  its 
boundaries  are  :  on  the  north,  the  British  Possessions ; 

(27) 


xsviii  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

on  the  south,  the  state  of  Iowa;  on  the  east,  Lake  Su- 
perior and  the  state  of  Wisconsin ;  and  on  the  west  Red 
river,  Sioux  Wood  river.  Lake  Traverse,  and  Big  Stone 
Lake,  and  from  the  latter  a  due  south  line  to  the  north- 
ern boundary  of  Iowa. 

The  climate  of  Minnesota  has  ehcited  an  eulogy  from 
every  observing  traveller,  and  yet  erroneous  impressions 
prevail  in  the  public  mind.  During  the  summer,  the 
temperature  corresponds  with  that  of  Philadelphia; 
and  while  the  thermometer  has  a  high  range  during  the 
day,  the  evenings  are  generally  cool  and  refreshing. 
Nights,  so  frequent  on  the  Atlantic  border,  when  the 
body  welters  in  perspiration,  and  the  individual  arises 
exhausted  rather  than  refreshed  by  sleep,  are  unknow^n. 
Nor  is  the  winter  any  more  trying  to  the  constitution 
than  the  summer.  The  air  is  dry  and  bracing,  and  the 
skies  are  by  day  generally  cloudless,  and  at  night  are 
studded  with  stars.  Maury,  the  author  of  the  Physi- 
cal Geography  of  the  Sea,  and  Superintendent  of  the 
National  Observatory  at  Washington,  has  remarked : — 

"  At  the  small  hours  of  the  night,  at  dewy  eve  and 
early  morn,  I  have  looked  out  with  wonder,  love,  and 
admiration  upon  the  steel-blue  sky  of  Minnesota,  set 
with  diamonds,  and  sparkling  with  brilliants  of  purest 
ray.  The  stillness  of  your  small  hours  is  sublime.  I 
feel  constrained,  as  I  gaze  and  admire,  to  hold  my  breath, 
lest  the  eloquent  silence  of  the  night  should  be  broken 
by  the  reverberations  of  the  sound,  from  the  seemingly 
solid  but  airy  vault  above. 

"  Herschell  has  said,  that  in  Europe,  the  astronomer 
might  consider  himself  highly  favoured,  if  by  patiently 
watching  the  skies  for  one  year,  he  shall,  durino-  that 


MAURY'S  ESTIMATE  OF  MINNESOTA.  xxix 

period  find,  all  told,  one  hundred  hours  suitable  for  sat- 
isfactory observations,  A  telescoj)e  mounted  here,  in 
this  atmosphere,  under  the  skies  of  Minnesota,  would 
have  its  powers  increased  many  times  over  what  they 
would  be  under  canopies  of  a  heaven  less  brilliant  and 
lovely." 

Corroborative  of  these  statements  are  tables  whicli 
appear  in  the  report  of  the  Mmnesota  and  Pacific  Rail- 
road Company. 

No  region  which  at  present  engages  the  public  mind, 
as  a  field  for  settlement,  has  been  so  grossly  misrepre- 
sented, in  regard  to  peculiarities  of  climate,  as  Minne- 
sota. Fabulous  accounts  of  its  arctic  temperature, 
j)iercing  winds,  and  accompanying  snows  of  enormous 
depth,  embellish  the  columns  of  the  Eastern  press.  An 
examination  of  this  subject,  and  especially  in  relation 
to  the  snows  and  winds  of  winter,  as  opposed  to  the 
operation  of  lines  of  railroad,  seems  necessary  to  correct 
existing  prejudices ;  and  fortunately  the  means  are  at 
hand  for  conducting  this  examination  with  an  exactness 
nearly  reaching  mathematical  precision.  The  data 
employed  are  compiled  from  the  "  Army  Meteorological 
Register,"  and  "  Blodgett's  Climatology  of  the  United 
States,"  both  standard  authorities,  based  upon  the  sys- 
tem of  meteorological  observations  which  have  been 
conducted  by  the  surgeons  of  the  United  States  army, 
and  other  scientific  gentlemen,  through  a  series  of 
upwards  of  thirty  years. 

In  the  following  table,  illustrative  of  the  temperature 
of  Minnesota,  St.  Paul  is  inserted  in  the  place  of  Fort 
SneUing  (six  miles  distant),  where  the  observations 
were  made  : — 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


SPRING. 


Mean  Tempekatuke,  45°  36'. 


St.  Paul, 

Boston,  Massachusetts,    . 
Springfield,  Massachusetts, 
Worcester,  Massachusetts, 
Kinderhook,  New  York, 
L'tica,  New  York,   .     . 
Cooperstown,  New  York, 
Onondaga,  New  York, 
Lewiston,  New  York,  . 
Detroit,  Michigan, 
Ann  Arbor,  Michigan, 
Battle  Creek,  Michigan, 
Chicago,  Illinois,     .     . 
Beloit,  Wisconsin,  .     . 
Portage  City,  Wisconsin, 


No.  of 
Years.i 


Mean  Temperatcre,  70°  36'. 


No.  of 
Years. 


35i 
20 

2 

7 
17 

9 
16 
16 
18 
1.3 

3 

5i 

5 

6 
16 


St.  Paul, I  3.5i 

Lowell,  Massachusetts,    ....  7 

Trenton,  New  Jersey 5 

Middletown,  New  Jersey,     ...  3 

Flatbush,  Long  Island,  New  York, '  24 

Newburg,  New  Y'ork, )  18 


Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania, 
Mifflintown,  Pennsylvania,  . 
Warren,  Pennsylvania,    .     . 

Iludson,  Ohio, 

Oberlin,  Ohio, 

Chicago,  Illinois,    .... 

Beloit,  Wisconsin 

Portage  City,  Wisconsin, 
Pembina,  M.  T.  lat.  -19°  .     . 


10 
3 

n 


16 
7-12th 


AUTUMN. 
Mean  Tempeeature.  45°  54 


St.  Paul, 

Portland,  Maine,    .     .     . 
Burlington,  Vermont,  .     . 
Montreal,  Canada,       .     . 
Lake  Simcoe,  Canada  West, 
Lowville,  Lewis  County,  Now  York 
Plattsburg,  New  York,     .     .     . 
Fairfield  Academy,  New  Y'ork, 
Mexico,  Oswego  County,  New  York 
Cherry  Valley,  New  Y'ork. 
Ebensburg,  Pennsylvania, 
Smethport,  Pennsylvania, 
Green  Bay,  Wisconsin,    .     , 
Manitowoc,  Wisconsin,     . 
Baraboo,  Wisconsin,    .     . 


No.  of 
Years. 

WINTER. 

Mean  Temperature,  16°  6'. 

No  of 
Years. 

35i 
31 

St   Paul,    .               .          .          .     . 

?,h\ 

Houlton,  Maine,      , 

17 

6 

Hanover,  New  Hampshire,  .     . 

3 

15 

Williamstown,  Massachusetts,  .     . 

13 

1 

Montreal,  Canada, 

15 

19 

Sault  St.  Marie, 

31 

11 

19 

11 

15 

2i 

3 

21 

21 

1 

Taking  a  map  of  the  United  States,  and  applying  to 
it  lines  of  mean  temperature  for  the  seasons  and  year, 
passing  through  the  places  indicated  in  the  foregoing 
table,  we  find  that  while  the  winter  temperature  of  St. 

^  The  column  headed  "  Xo.  of  years"  gives  the  duration  of  the  observa- 
tions at  each  station. 


TEMPERATURE  COMPARED  WITH  EASTERN  STATES.        xxsi 

Paul  does  not  fall  below  the  average  of  jDlaces  on  its 
parallel  of  latitude,  its  spring  temperature  coincides 
with  that  of  Central  Wisconsin,  Northern  Illinois, 
Southern  Michigan,  Central  New  York,  and  Massachu- 
setts; its  summer  with  that  of  Central  Wisconsin, 
Northern  Illinois,  Northern  Ohio,  Central  and  Southern 
Pennsylvania,  and  New  Jersey ;  its  autumn  with  that 
of  Central  Wisconsin,  Northern  New  York,  a  small  part 
of  Northern  Pennsylvania,  Northern  Vermont,  and 
Southern  Maine ;  and  its  entire  year  with  that  of  Cen- 
tral Wisconsin,  Central  New  York,  Southern  New 
Hampshire,  and  Southern  Maine. 

Viemng  this  subject  with  reference  to  the  extremes 
of  latitude  touched  by  these  isothermal  lines,  Ave  disco- 
ver that  St.  Paul  has  a  temperature  in  spring  equal  to 
Chicago,  which  is  two  and  a  half  degrees  of  latitude 
south ;  in  autumn,  equal  to  Northern  New  York,  one 
and  a  half  degrees  south ;  and  during  the  whole  year, 
equal  to  Central  New  York,  two  degrees  south. 

These  statements  do  not  admit  of  the  sliirlitest  doubt 
or  question,  no  matter  how  widely  they  may  diifer  from 
preconceived  opinions,  for  they  are  founded  on  facts  of 
experience  which  have  occupied  an  entire  generation  in 
their  development. 

This  condition  of  temperature  not  only  obtains  in 
Minnesota,  but  it  is  a  Avell  established  fact,  that  there 
extends  hundreds  of  miles  to  the  north-west  of  her  an 
immense  area  of  fertile  and  arable  soil,  possessed  of  a 
climate  hardly  inferior  in  warmth  to  her  own.  The 
closing  chapter  of  Blodgett's  Climatology  is  an  admira- 
ble treatise  on  the  climate  and  resources  of  this  vast 
region. 

The  obstruction  opposed  by  snows  to  the  rapid  and 


xxxu    ■  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

regular  passage  of  trains,  is  among  the  chief  difficulties 
of  winter  operation,  and  in  order  to  submit  in  the  plain- 
est and  most  concise  manner  possible  the  magnitude  of 
this  obstacle,  as  found  here  in  comparison  -yvith  other 
districts,  a  table  of  mean  results,  compiled  from  the 
same  sources  with  the  preceding  table,  is  here  intro- 
duced. 

The  results  given  in  the  table  are  all  reduced  to 
water,  but  m  order  to  convert  them  into  equivalents 
of  snow,  we  have  onlj  to  consider  the  figures  in  the 
columns  as  representing  feet  and  decimals  of  a  foot. 
The  rule  adopted  in  the  "  Register,"  gives  ten  inches 
of  snow  as  equivalent  to  one  inch  of  water,  but  the  pro- 
portion of  twelve  to  one  is  believed  to  be  more  correct, 
particularly  as  regards  snows  of  our  latitude. 

Mean  Fall  of  Rain  and  Melted  Snow  at  various  places  for  the  different  sea- 
sons and  the  entire  year.  Also,  the  Maximum  and  Minimum  Fall  during 
the  winter  months. 

DEPTH  IX  INCHES  AND  DECIMALS  OF  AN  INCH. 


SPEING. 

SUMMER. 

AUTUMN. 

WINTER. 

TEAR. 

No. 

PLACES. 

of 
Years. 

Mean. 

Mean. 

Mean. 

Minim. 

Mean. 

Maxim. 

Mean. 

St.  Paul,  M.  T.     .     .     . 

6.61 

10.92 

5.98 

0.35 

1.92 

3.561 

25.43 

19 

Montreal,  Canada   .    . 

11.54 

11.18 

16.60 

7.26 

47.28 

2 

Iloulton,  Me.       .     .     . 

7.62 

11.92 

9.95 

4.02 

7.48 

10.00 

36.97 

9i 

Eastport,  Me.      .    .    . 

8.S8 

10.05 

9.85 

8.91 

10.61 

11.95 

39.39 

8i 

rortsmouth,  \.  U.  .    . 

9.03 

9.21 

8.95 

4.« 

8.38 

11.08 

35.57 

13" 

Hanover,  N.  U.   .     .     . 

9.90 

11.40 

10.50 

9.10 

41.00 

18 

Turlington,  A't.  .     .     . 

7.41 

10.83 

9.82 

6.02 

34.11 

20 

Cambridge,  Mass.    .     . 

10.85 

11.17 

12.57 

9.89 

44.48 

12 

Worcester,  Mass.     .     . 

10.89 

10.71 

13.51 

11.85 

46.96 

13 

New  York  City    .     .     . 

11.69 

11.64 

9.93 

4.99 

10.39 

19.27 

43.65 

14 

Plattsburg,  N.  Y.     .     . 

8.36 

10.03 

10.05 

2.90 

4.95 

9.33 

33.39 

10 

Potsdam,  N.  X.    .     .     . 

6.20 

10.15 

8.38 

3.90 

28.63 

20 

Utica,  N.  Y 

9.26 

12.83 

9.76 

8.72 

40.57 

19 

Ptoohoster,  N.  Y.      .     . 

6.82 

8.86 

9.38 

5.38 

30.44 

19 

Fort  Niagara,  N.  Y^.     . 

6.87 

9.81 

8.68 

3.23 

6.41 

9.24 

31.77 

51 

Pittsburgh.  Pa.   .     .    . 

9.38 

9.87 

8.23 

4.39 

7.48 

11.97 

34.96 

18 

Hudson,  0 

9.76 

8.87 

6.16 

8.00 

32.79 

7 

Cincinnati,  0.      .    .     . 

12.14 

13.70 

9.90 

11.15 

46.89 

20 

Detroit.  Mich.      .     .     . 

8.51 

9.29 

7.41 

2.84 

4.86 

6.01 

30.07 

121 

Sault  St.  Marie,  Mich. 

5.44 

9.97 

10.76 

2.85 

5.18 

11.57 

31.35 

16J 

Athens,  111 

12.20 

13.30 

9.20 

7.10 

41.80 

10 

Muscatine,  Iowa     .     . 

11.19 

15.08 

10.34 

6.72 

44.33 

10 

Milwaukee,  Wis.     .     . 

6.60 

9.70 

6.80 

4.20 

27.20 

7 

Green  Bay,  Wis.      .     . 

9.00 

14.45 

7.84 

2.90 

3.36 

4.80 

34.65 

1i 

Portage  City,  Wis.  .    . 

5.58 

11.46 

7.63 

1.92 

2.82 

3.84 

27.49 

9 

Beloit,  Wis 

13.16 

18.12 

10.44 

6.43 

48:15 

4 

1  In  the  winter  of  1849.    The  next  less  fall  was  in  the  winter  of  1837—2.96  inches. 


LESS  SNOW  THAN  ON  THE  ATLANTIC  BORDER.  xxxiii 

Without  going  into  a  detailed  review  of  the  contents 
of  the  foregoing  table,  which  presents  the  facts  in  a 
light  that  argument  cannot  strengthen,  it  may  be  weW 
to  inquire  what  proportion  of  the  winter  precipitation 
is  in  the  form  of  snow,  and  in  the  absence  of  positive 
knowledge  we  may  arrive  at  general  conclusions  by 
other  means. 

Since  Houlton,  Hanover,  Plattsburg,  Montreal,  and 
Sault  St.  Marie,  coincide  in  mean  winter  temperature 
with  St.  Paul,  we  must  infer  that  the  j)recipitation  at 
those  places  assumes  the  form  of  snow  in  the  same  pro- 
portion as  here.  Admitting  this,  and  supposing  the 
entire  winter  precipitation  to  be  a  successive  accumula- 
tion of  snows,  the  resulting  depths  would  be  as  follows, 
viz..  Average  annual  depth  at  St.  Paul,  3  feet;  Houl- 
ton, 7h  feet;  Hanover,  9  feet;  Plattsburg,  5  feet;  Mon- 
treal, 7  feet;  Sault  St.  Marie,  Hi  feet.  Maximum 
depth,  at  St.  Paul,  3 J  feet;  Houlton,  10  feet;  Platts- 
burg, 9 J  feet;  and  Sault  St.  Marie,  11 J  feet.  It  is  hardly 
necessary  to  add  that  such  immense  depths  of  snow  are 
never  known,  and  it  must  follow  that  a  great  part  of 
the  fall  at  all  these  localities  is  dissipated  during  the 
higher  iluctuations  of  temperature.  This  is  confirmed 
by  Mr.  Blodgett,  who  estimates  the  average  depth  of 
snow  constantly  occupying  the  ground  in  winter  among 
the  elevated  and  northern  districts  of  New  England  at 
two  feet,  and  the  experience  of  the  present  winter, 
1857-8,  at  St.  Paul,  is,  that,  out  of  a  total  fall  of  up- 
wards of  twenty  inches  of  snow,  the  depth  on  the  ground 
has  at  no  time  exceeded  six  inches. 

Although  no  reliable  evidence  can  be  adduced  upon 
this  point,  it  seems  entirely  safe  to  assume  that  the 


xxxiv  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

average  of  extreme  depths  of  snow  in  Minnesota,  during 
the  nineteen  years  through  which  the  observations  ex- 
tend, does  not  exceed  ten  inches,  and  it  is  certain  that 
the  average  here  falls  quite  below  that  in  Wisconsin, 
Illinois,  Michigan,  or  New  York,  and  very  far  below 
that  in  the  Eastern  States. 


Table  showing  the  Mean  Force  of  the  Wind  at  Various  Places  during  the 
Months  of  January,  February,  March,  and  December,  in  each  Year  for  a 
Series  of  Tears} 


1845 

1846 

1847 

1848 

1849 

1850 

1851 

1852 

1853 

1854 

£  a 

PLACES. 

0  g 

2.05 

Si 

2.18 

2.00 

1.80 

a  ^ 

Is 

2.41 

c  ^ 

10 

e.3 

OS  o 

Fort  Snelling,   M.   T., 
near  St.  Paul,      .     . 

1.59 

1.72 

1.63 

1.74 

1.55 

1.87 

Fort    Trumbull,    New| 

2.85 

3.41 

2.98 

2.31 

2.45 

2.16 

7 

?  67 

Fort    Hamilton,    New 

York  City,       .     .     . 

3.28 

3.43 

3.18 

3.08 

3.40 

3.14 

3.40 

3.14 

1.90 

1.66 

10 

2.96 

Fort  Niagara,  New 
York 

.3.33 

3.28 

3.30 

3.24 

2.59 

3.54 

2.20 

2.57 

8 

3.01 

Plattsburg     Barracks, 
Plattsbur",  N   Y 

2.58 

1.69 

1.48 

1.54 

2.19 

5 

1  PO 

Fort    Sullivan,    East- 

port,  Maine,    .     .     . 

3.29 

.  . .  . 

2.31 

2..37 

2.55 

2.63 

.  . .  . 

5 

2.63 

Fort  Constitution, 

Portsmouth,  N.  H.  . 

2.44 

2.18 

2.53 

2.70 

2.65 

5 

2.50 

Alleghany  Arsenal, 
Pittsburgh,  Pa.    .     . 

2.13 

1.85 

2.08 

1.86 

2.08 

2.29 

2.15 

2.74 

2.31 

2.55 

10 

2.20 

Detroit  Barracks,  De- 

9  '\f 

2.46 

1.72 

2.11 

2.32 

5 

?'>6 

Fort  Atkinson,  Winne- 

shiek County,  Iowa, 
Fort  Leavenworth, 

■>  RS 

?n7 

? 

*>  48 

Kansas,      .... 

2.30 

2.19 

1.70 

1.99 

2.55 

1.45 

1.61 

2.03 

2.07 

2.30 

10 

2.09 

Average  force  at  all 

?63 

2.40 

2.15 

2.17 

2.57 

2.32 

2.30 

2.59 

2.22 

2.30 

.... 

2  42 

^  In  this  classification  0  signifies  a  4  a  brisk  breeze,  and  so  on  to  10, 
calm,  1  a  barely  perceptible  breeze,  2  which  represents  a  violent  hurricane, 
a  gentle  breeze,  3  a  moderate  breeze, 


NUMEROUS  LAKES.— WATERFALLS.  xxxv 

"  It  appears  that  the  mean  force  of  the  wind  at  Fort 
SnelHng  for  the  whole  term  is  less  than  at  any  other 
station,  and  twenty-five  per  cent,  less  than  the  average 
of  all  stations  for  the  whole  term,  and  that  the  mean 
force  in  any  year  is  below  the  average  at  all  stations 
for  the  year,  except  in  1854,  when  it  slightly  exceeds 
the  average." 

Like  the  Garden  of  Eden,  the  state  is  encircled  by 
rivers  and  lakes.  There  is  "  water,  water  everywhere ;" 
and  in  view  of  this  characteristic,  Nicollet  called  the 
country  Undine.  To  naiads  and  all  water  spirits  it 
would  be  a  perfect  paradise.  The  surface  of  the  country 
is  dotted  with  lakes,  and  in  some  regions  it  is  impossible 
to  travel  five  miles  without  meeting  a  beautiful  expanse 
of  water.  Many  of  these  lakes  are  linked  together  by 
small  and  clear  rivulets,  while  others  are  isolated. 
Their  configuration  is  varied  and  picturesque ;  some 
are  large,  with  precipitous  shores,  and  contain  wooded 
islands,  others  are  approached  by  gentle  grassy  slopes. 
Their  bottoms  are  paved  with  agates,  carnelians,  and 
other  beautiful  quartz  pebbles.  Owens,  in  his  Geological 
Report,  says :  "  Their  beds  are  generally  pebbly,  or 
covered  with  small  boulders,  which  peep  out  along  the 
shore,  and  frequently  show  a  rocky  line  around  the 
entire  circumference.  Very  few  of  them  have  mud  bot- 
toms. The  water  is  generally  sweet  and  clear,  and 
north  of  the  water-shed  is  as  cool  and  refreshing  during 
the  heats  of  summer  as  the  water  of  springs  or  wells. 
All  the  lakes  abound  with  various  species  of  fish,  of  a 
quality  and  flavour  greatly  superior  to  those  of  the 
streams  of  the  Middle  or  Western  States. 

The  country  also  contains  a  number  of  ha-ha,  as  the 
Dahkotahs  call  all  waterfalls.     As  the  state  of  New 


xxxvi  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

York  shares  with  Great  Britain  the  sublimest  cataract, 
so  Minnesota  has  a  joint  ownership  in  a  picturesque 
fall.  It  is  about  a  mile  and  a  half  above  the  mouth  of 
Pigeon  river.  The  perpendicular  descent  is  sixty  feet, 
after  which  the  river  chafes  its  way  for  many  yards. 
About  one  mile  below  the  west  end  of  Grand  Portage, 
the  old  depot  of  the  North-west  Company,  are  the  great 
cascades  of  Pigeon  river.  "  The  scenery  at  the  cas- 
cades presents  the  singular  combination  of  wild  grandeur 
and  picturesque  beauty,  with  an  aspect  the  most  dreary 
and  desolate  imaginable.  In  the  distance  of  four 
hundred  yards,  the  river  falls  one  hundred  and  forty- 
four  feet.  The  fall  is  in  a  series  of  cascades  through  a 
narrow  gorge,  with  perj)endicular  walls,  varjang  from 
forty  to  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet,  on  both  sides  of 
the  river."^  The  streams  in  the  north-east  county  of 
Minnesota  nearly  all  come  into  Lake  Superior  with  a 
leap.  Half  a  mile  from  the  lake,  the  Kawimbash  hur- 
ries through  perpendicular  walls  of  stone,  seventy-five 
feet  in  height,  and  at  last  pitches  down  a  height  of 
eighteen  or  twenty  feet. 

On  Kettle  river,  a  tributary  of  the  St.  Croix,  there 
are  also  interesting  rapids  and  falls.  The  Falls  of  St. 
Croix,  thirty  miles  above  Stillwater,  elicit  the  admira- 
tion of  the  traveller.  Between  lofty  walls  of  trap  rock, 
the  river  rushes,  "at  first  with  great  velocity,  forming 
a  succession  of  whirlpools,  until  it  makes  a  sudden  bend, 
then  glides  along  placidly,  reflecting  in  its  deep  waters 
the  dark  image  of  the  columnar  masses,  as  they  rise 
towering  above  each  other  to  the  height  of  a  hundred 
to  a  hundred  and  seventy  feet."     On  the  VermilHon 

^  Owens'  Report,  p.  409,  4to. 


THE  FALLS  OF  MINNE-HA-HA.  xxxvii 

river,  which  is  a  western  tributary  of  the  Mississippi, 
opposite  the  St.  Croix,  there  are  picturesque  falls,  about 
a  mile  from  Hastings. 

A  drive  of  less  than  fifteen  minutes  from  Fort  Snel- 
ling,  in  the  direction  of  St.  Anthony,  brings  the  tourist 
to  a  waterfall  that  makes  a  lifetime  impression. 

"  Stars  in  the  silent  night 

Might  be  enchained, 
Birds  in  their  passing  flight 

Be  long  detained, 
And  by  this  scene  entrancing, 

Angels  might  roam. 
Or  make  their  home. 

Hearing,  in  waters  dancing, 
'Mid  spray  and  foam, 

Minnehaha  I" 

These,  within  a  brief  period,  have  obtained  a  world- 
wide reputation,  from  the  fact  that  "  a  certain  one  of 
our  own  poets"  has  given  the  name  of  Minne-ha-ha  to 
the  wife  of  Hiawatha.  Longfellow,  in  his  vocabulary, 
says  :  "  Minne-ha-ha — Laughing-water ;  a  waterfill  or  a 
stream  running  into  the  Mississipj)i,  between  Fort  Snell- 
ing  and  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony."  All  waterfalls,  in 
the  Dahkotah  tongue,  are  called  Ha-ha,  never  Mimie- 
ha-ha.  The  "h"  has  a  strong  guttural  sound,  and  the 
word  is  applied  because  of  the  curling  or  laughing  of 
the  waters.  The  verb  I-ha-ha  primarily  means,  to  curl ; 
secondarily  to  laugh,  because  of  the  curling  motion  of 
the  mouth  in  laughter.  The  noise  of  Ha-ha  is  called  by 
the  Dahkotahs  I-ha-ha,  because  of  its  resemblance  to 
laughter. 

A  small  rivulet,  the  outlet  of  Lake  Harriet  and  Cal- 
houn, gently  gliding  over  the  bluff  into  an  amphithea- 


xxxviii  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

tre,  forms  this  graceful  waterfall.  It  has  but  little  of 
"the  cataract's  thunder."  Niagara  symbolizes  the  sub- 
lime ;  St.  Anthony  the  picturesque ;  Ha-ha  the  beauti- 
ful. The  fall  is  about  sixty  feet,  presenting  a  parabolic 
curve,  which  drops,  without  the  least  deviation,  until 
it  has  reached  its  lower  level,  when  the  stream  goes  on 
its  way  rejoicing,  curling  along  in  laughing,  childish 
glee  at  the  graceful  feat  it  has  performed  in  bounding 
over  the  precipice. 

Five  miles  above  this  embodiment  of  beauty,  are  the 
more  pretentious  Falls  of  St.  Anthony.  This  fall  was 
not  named  by  a  Jesuit,  as  Willard  says,  in  her  History 
of  the  United  States,  but  by  Hennepin,  a  Franciscan  of 
the  Recollect  Order.  He  saw  it  while  returning  from 
Mille  Lac,  in  the  month  of  July,  1680,  und  named  it 
after  his  patron  Saint,  Anthony  of  Padua. 

In  the  last  edition  of  his  travels,  the  adventurous 
father  says,  "  the  navigation  is  interrupted  by  a  fall, 
which  I  called  St.  Anthony  of  Padua's,  in  gratitude  for 
the  favours  done  me  by  the  Almighty  through  the  inter- 
cession of  that  great  saint,  whom  we  had  chosen  patron 
and  protector  of  all  our  enterprises.  This  fall  is  forty 
or  fifty  feet  high,  divided  in  the  middle  by  a  rocky 
island  of  pyramidal  form."  As  Hennepin  was  passing 
the  falls,  in  company  with  a  party  of  buffalo  hunt- 
ers, he  perceived  a  Dahkotah  up  in  an  oak  opposite 
the  great  fall  weeping  bitterly,  with  a  well  dressed 
beaver  robe,  whitened  inside,  and  trimmed  with  porcu- 
pine quills,  which  he  was  offering  as  a  sacrifice  to  the 
falls,  which  is  in  itself  admirable  and  frightful.  I  heard 
him  while  shedding  copious  tears  say,  as  he  spoke  to 
the  great  cataract :  "  Thou  who  art  a  sj)irit,  grant  that 


FALLS  OF  ST.  ANTHONY.  xxxix 

our  nation  may  pass  here  quietly  without  accident,  may 
kill  buffalo  in  abundance,  conquer  our  enemies,  and 
bring  in  slaves,  some  of  whom  we  will  put  to  death 
before  thee ;  the  Messenecqz  [to  this  day  the  Dahkotahs 
call  the  Fox  Indians  by  this  name]  have  killed  our 
kindred,  grant  that  we  may  avenge  them." 

The  only  other  European,  during  the  time  of  the 
French  dominion,  whose  account  of  the  falls  is  pre- 
served, is  Charleville.  He  told  Du  Pratz,  the  author 
of  a  history  of  Louisiana,  that,  with  two  Canadians  and 
two  Indians,  in  a  birch  canoe  laden  with  goods,  he  pro- 
ceeded as  far  as  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony.  This  cata- 
ract he  describes  as  caused  hy  a  flat  rock,  which  forms 
the  bed  of  the  river,  and  causing  a  fall  of  eight  or  ten 
feet.  It  was  not  far  from  a  century  after  Hennepin 
saw  the  '•  curling  waters,"  that  it  was  gazed  upon  by  a 
British  subject.  Jonathan  Carver,  a  native  of  Connec- 
ticut, and  captain  of  a  Provincial  troop,  w^as  the  Yankee 
who  first  looked  on  this  valuable  water-power,  and  began 
to  make  calculations  for  further  settlement.  His  sketch 
of  the  falls  in  1766  was  the  first  ever  taken,  and  was 
well  engraved  in  London. 

Carver,  like  Hennepin,  speaks  of  a  rocky  island 
dividing  the  falls,  and  estimates  its  width  about  forty 
feet,  and  its  length  not  much  more,  "  and  about  half 
way  between  this  island  and  the  eastern  shore,  is  a 
rock,  lying  at  the  very  edge  of  the  fall,  that  appeared 
to  be  about  five  or  six  feet  broad,  and  thirty  or  forty 
long." 

During  the  two  generations  that  have  elapsed,  since 
this  description  was  penned,  some  changes  have  taken 
place  in  the  appearance  of  the  falls.     The  small  island 


xl  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

about  forty  feet  broad,  which  is  now  some  distance  in 
front  of  the  falls,  was  probably  once  in  its  midst.  The 
geological  character  of  the  bed  of  the  river  is  such,  that 
an  undermining  process  is  constantly  at  work.  The 
upper  stratum  is  limestone,  with  many  large  crevices, 
and  about  fifteen  feet  in  thickness.  Beneath  is  the 
saccharoid  sandstone,  which  is  so  soft,  that  it  cannot 
resist  the  Avearing  of  the  rapid  waters.  It  is  more  than 
probable  that  in  an  age  long  passed,  the  falls  were  once 
in  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Snelling.  In  the  course  of  two 
years  they  have  receded  many  feet.  The  numbers  of  pine 
logs  that  pitch  over  the  falls,  have  increased  the  reces- 
sion. As  the  logs  float  down  they  are  driven  into  the 
fissures,  and  serve  as  levers,  other  logs  and  the  water 
communicating  the  power,  to  wrench  the  limestone  slabs 
from  their  localities.  In  time  the  falls  will  recede  until 
they  become  nothing  more  than  rapids. 

The  fall  of  water  on  the  west  side  of  the  dividing 
island,  is  several  rods  above  that  on  the  east  side,  and 
the  difference  is  occasioned  by  the  greater  volume  of 
water  on  the  former  side,  causing  a  more  rapid  re- 
cedence. 

There  are  two  islands  of  great  beauty  in  the  rapids 
above  the  falls.  The  first  juts  some  feet  beyond  the 
falls,  and  contains  about  fifteen  acres.  It  is  now  gene- 
rally known  as  Hennepin  Island,  not,  as  some  blunderer 
says  in  Harper's  Magazine  for  July,  1853,  because  the 
Jesuit  father  ivas  ^^ZacecZ  there  hy  the  Indians,  but  in 
accordance  with  the  following  suggestion,  in  an  address 
before  the  Historical  Society  of  Minnesota,  on  January 
first,  1850  :— 

"  As  a  town  in  the  state  of  Illinois  has  already  taken 


EARLY  FRENCH  MAPS.  xli 

the  name  of  Hennepin,  which  would  have  been  so  ap- 
propriate for  the  beautiful  village  of  St.  Anthony,  we 
take  leave  of  the  discoverer  of  those  picturesque  falls, 
which  will  always  render  that  town  equally  attractive 
to  the  eye  of  the  poet  and  capitalist,  by  suggesting  that 
the  island  which  divides  the  laughing  waters,  be  called 
Hennepin." 

When  Du  Luth  left  Minnesota,  in  1680,  one  of  the 
Dahkotah  chiefs  drew  on  birch  bark  a  map  of  the 
Mississippi,  and  it  was  agreed  that  the  French  should 
bring  goods  to  the  Mississippi,  and  that  the  Dahkotahs 
would  come  down  and  traffic  with  them.  Perrot,  in 
carrying  into  effect  this  arrangement,  appears  to  have 
erected  the  trading  establishment,  called  Fort  ^  St. 
Nicholas,  in  the  vicinity  of  Prairie  du  Chien. 

When  forts  are  spoken  of  in  connection  with  the 
French  explorations  of  the  North-west,  the  reader  must 
divest  himself  of  the  idea  of  massive  walls  of  masonry, 
and  turrets  and  buttresses,  and  angles  with  ordnance 
protruding  their  muzzles ; — and  picture  before  him  a  log 
cabin,  surrounded  by  a  few  pickets. 

The  early  French  maps  on  America,  are  both  curious 
and  instructive.  Without  their  aid  it  is  impossible  to 
trace  with  certainty  the  progress  of  discovery  in  Minne- 
sota, and  the  whole  North-wxst. 

The  earliest  chart  representing  Minnesota  that  has 
Ijeen  examined  is  that  of  Coronellis,  corrected  by 
Tillemon,  published  at  Paris,  1688. 

Mille  Lac  is  called  Lac  Buade,  and  the  map  states 
that  it  was  named  by  Du  Luth. 

The  St.  Croix  river  appears  as  Magdcline,  and  Snake 
river  is  marked  Prophet. 

The  second  map  that  attempts  a  representation  of 


xlii  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

the  region  now  known  as  Minnesota,  is  attached  to  the 
Utrecht  edition  of  Hennepin's  Travels,  published  in  1698. 
Lake  Pepin  is  on  this  marked  Lac  des  Pleurs,  and  the 
St.  Croix  as  Riviere  du  Tombeau,  and  Mille  Lac  is  the 
Lake  of  the  Issati.  North-east  of  this  lake  are  placed 
the  Ouadebaton  band  of  Dahkotahs ;  and  near  by  the 
Chongas-kabions,  and  Songasquitons. 

A  member  of  the  Franciscan  priesthood,  Hennepin, 
was  very  jealous  of  the  influence  of  the  Jesuits,  yet  he 
is  frequently  by  loose  writers  called  a  Jesuit.  To 
convey  the  impression  that  his  order  were  the  pioneers 
in  the  evangelization  of  the  North-west,  he  has  marked 
beyond  Sauk  Rapids,  in  a  region  where  a  white  man's 
footsteps  were  not  seen  for  years  subsequent,  a  house 
which  is  called  Mission  of  the  Recollects. 

The  maps  on  the  North-west  that  were  the  basis  of 
the  French  and  English  charts,  for  half  a  century,  were 
prepared  by  William  de  I'lsle,  a  member  of  the  Royal 
Academy  of  Sciences  at  Paris.  In  his  preparation  of 
the  chart  of  Louisiana,  he  was  assisted  by  the  obser- 
vations of  the  early  explorer  of  Minnesota,  Le  Sueur. 
The  map  was  issued  about  the  year  1700,  and  as  the 
section  of  it  accompanying  another  chapter  of  this  work 
shows,^  attempted  to  desigTiate  the  villages  of  the  Sioux 
of  the  East  and  Sioux  of  the  West.  It  places  a  coal 
mine  on  the  Minnesota  river,  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
the  present  town  of  Carver,  and  calls  Lake  St.  Croix. 
Lake  Pepin.  The  fort  built  by  Le  Sueur  on  the  island 
below  Hastings,  and  by  Perrot  at  an  earlier  period, 
opposite  the  Chippeway  river,  and  Fort  Huillier  on  the 
small  tributary  of  the  Mahkahto,  are  clearly  designated. 

^  See  page  164. 


T.SDm,^ ar3„,UI,  I%il' 


Seclion  of  a  Map  of  Canada. 


SECURITY  AND  PROSPERITY  OF  PIONEERS.  xliii 

In  the  map  of  Canada,  by  the  same  author,  Minnesota 
is  more  fully  delineated.  Pepin  is  attached  to  the  lake 
which  now  bears  the  name.  Mille  Lac  is  called  Buade, 
after  the  family  name  of  Frontenac,  and  also  by  an 
Ojibway  word  Missisacaigan,  conveying  the  idea  ex- 
pressed by  the  French  term  Mille  Lacs. 

Rum  river  is  called  the  Mendeouacanton,  after  the 
division  of  Dahkotahs  that  dwelt  in  the  valley.  Snake 
river  bears  its  present  name,  and  the  mines  of  lead 
near  Galena  and  Dubuque  are  noted.  In  the  year 
1750,  after  Yeranderie's  tour  by  the  chain  of  lakes  that 
form  the  northern  boundary  of  Minnesota,  Philip)  Buache^ 
revised  and  improved  the  maps  of  De  I'lsle.  The  fort 
at  the  mouth  of  Pigeon  river,  built  by  Du  Luth,  appears, 
and  this  locality  was  afterwards  occupied  by  Fort  Char- 
lotte, and  was  the  great  depot  of  the  North-west  Com- 
pany. The  post  on  Rainy  Lake,  and  Lake  Winnipeg  and 
Lake  of  the  Woods,  are  also  presented  for  the  first  time. 
Previous  to  the  treaty  of  peace  at  Paris,  in  1763,  Tho- 
mas Jeffer}-s,  Geographer  to  the  King  of  England,  pre- 
pared a  map  which  embodied  all  of  the  latest  correc- 
tions, and  exhibits  the  sites  of  all  the  French  establish- 
ments in  Minnesota.^ 

So  recent  has  been  the  removal  of  the  Dahkotahs, 
there  is  danger,  in  reading  the  history  of  Minnesota, 
of  supposing  that  the  emigrant  will  be  exposed  to  the 
scalping  knife  of  the  savage.  It  is  true  that  there  was 
a  massacre  by  some  outlaws  on  the  extreme  south- 
western frontier,  not  long  since ;  but  this  barbarity  was 
condemned  by  the  Indian  bands,  as  much  as  by  Ame- 
rican citizens.     Although  the  war-whoop  has  scarcely 

'  See  page  188.  *  See  page  300. 


xliv  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

ceased  to  resound  through  the  vales,  and  over  the  prai- 
ries, yet,  since  1853,  the  Indian  population  has  receded 
westward  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  and  an  Indian, 
when  he  appears  on  the  site  of  what  was  only  yesterday 
his  village,  is  gazed  at  with  curiosity. 

At  Weenonah,^  so  lately  the  residence  of  Wapashaw,^ 
there  is  already  an  embryo  city  with  three  thousand  in- 
habitants, and  two  newspapers ;  at  Raymneecha,  the  re- 
cent village  of  the  Red  Wing  band,  at  the  head  of  Lake 
Pepin,  there  is  a  busy  town,  the  seat  of  a  Methodist 
University,  with  comfortable  church  edifices  of  brick, 
and  an  industrious  population.  At  Shokpay,^  which 
was  one  of  the  largest  Dahkotah"*  villages,  is  a  thriving 
county  seat,  with  a  population  that  is  rapidly  increasing. 
Near  the  old  mission-house  of  Traverse  des  Sioux,  is 
springing  up  St.  Peter,  a  town  of  ardent  aspirations, 
which  may  be  the  future  capital  of  the  state. 

Notwithstanding  the  erroneous  impressions  that  have 
prevailed,  that  Minnesota  was  too  far  north  for  agricul- 
tural success,  and  the  emigration  to  Kansas,  Nebraska, 
and  California,  its  growth  has  been  surprising.  In 
1849,  the  population  was  less  than  five  thousand,  in- 
cluding all  of  the  soldiers  of  the  forts;  in  1857,  a  census 
that  was  not  fully  completed,  presented  the  following 
figures : — 


^    In    several    places    we    write  '  Shokpay  or    Shakpay,    is  now 

Winona  as  it  is  pronounced,  because  written  Shakopee,  but  we  prefer  the 

some  are  beginning  to  talk  of  the  old  method. 

town    of    Wyenonay,    a    barbarism  *  Dahkotah  is  also  spelled  Dakota, 

that  would  shock  a  Dahkotah.  Dacota,    Dahcotah,    and     Dakotah. 

^  Wapashaw  is  used  for  Wabasha,  The  accent  is  emphatic,  and  on  the 

because  more  correct  and  euphonious  penult. 
— See    Dahkotah    Lexicon,    vol.   iv. 
Smithsonian  Publications. 


DESCRIPTION  OF  FALLS  OF  ST.  ANTHONY,  1848. 


xlv 


Houston, 5,264 

Winona 8,163 

Fillmore,! 6,595 

Olmsted,        8,458 

Dodge, 3,680 

Mower,^ 

Freeborn, 2,485 

Faribault, 689 

Waseca, 2,595 

Steele 2,598 

Blue  Earth, 3,628 

Wabashaw, 5,115 

Goodhue, 6,951 

Rice, 6,440 

Le  Sueur, 3,510 

Nicollet, 5,437 

Brown, 1,689 

Sibley,'' 

Scott, 5,302 

Carver 3,117 

Eenville, 245 

McLeod 822 

Dahkotah, 8,158 

Hennepin, 13,064 

Ramsey, 12,748 

Anokai^ 2,559 

Wright, 2,233 

Sherburne, 507 

Total. 


Benton, 688 

Stearns, 2,840 

Meeker, 1,014 

Morrison, 751 

Manomin,^ 

Washington,      ....  6,182 

Chisago, 1,763 

Pine, 102 

St.  Louis 1,559 

Isanti, 184 

Pierce,^ 

Cass, 196 

Pembina, 

Crow  Wing, 176 

Mille  Lac,'' 

Todd, 81 

Buchanan, 120 

Carlton, 239 

Lake, 1,212 

Itasca,' 

Cotton  Wood,     ....  173 

Murray, 81 

Nobles 16 

Rock, 52 

Jackson 50 

Martin, 55 

Pipe  Stone, 24 


136,464 


In  1848,  Minnesota  seemed  a  wilderness  to  a  divine, 
the  Rev.  Albert  Barnes,  of  Philadelphia,  who  visited  the 
country  on  a  tour  of  pleasure ;  and  he  thus  presents  his 
views  of  a  locality,  which  is  now  spanned  by  two  bridges, 
the  seat  of  the  State  University,  and  of  two  towns,  the 
abode  of  five  thousand  active  inhabitants  : — 

"  I  visited  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony.  I  know  not 
how  other  men  feel  when  standing  there,  nor  how  men 
"vvill  feel  a  century  hence,  when  standing  there — then, 


^  Partial  return. 


'  No  returns. 


xlvi  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

not  in  the  West,  but  almost  in  the  centre  of  our  great 
nation.  But  when  I  stood  there  and  reflected  on  the 
distance  between  that  and  the  place  of  my  birth  and 
my  home ;  on  the  prairies  over  which  I  had  passed ; 
and  the  stream — the  '  Father  of  Rivers' — up  which  I 
had  sailed  some  five  hundred  miles,  into  a  new  and  un- 
settled land — where  the  children  of  the  forest  still  live 
and  roam — I  had  views  of  the  greatness  of  my  country, 
such  as  I  have  never  had  in  the  crowded  capitals  and 
the  smiling  villages  of  the  East.  Far  in  the  distance 
did  they  then  seem  to  be ;  and  there  came  over  the 
soul  the  idea  of  greatness,  and  vastness,  which  no  figures, 
no  description,  had  ever  conveyed  to  my  mind.  To  an 
inexperienced  traveller,  too,  how  strange  is  the  appear- 
ance of  all  that  land  i  *  *  *  *  You  ascend  the 
Mississippi  amidst  scenery  unsurpassed  in  beauty 
probably  in  the  world.  You  see  the  waters  making 
their  way  along  an  interval  of  from  two  to  four 
miles  in  width — between  bluffs  of  from  one  hundred 
to  five  hundred  feet  in  height.  Now  the  river  makes 
its  way  along  the  eastern  range  of  bluffs,  and  now 
the  western,  and  now  in  the  centre,  and  now  it 
divides  itself  into  numerous  channels,  forming  thou- 
sands of  beautiful  islands,  covered  with  long  grass, 
ready  for  the  scythe  of  the  mower.  Those  bluffs, 
rounded  with  taste  and  skill,  such  as  could  be  imitated 
by  no  art  of  man,  and  set  out  with  trees  here  and  there, 
gracefully  arranged  like  orchards,  seem  to  have  been 
sown  with  grain  to  the  summit,  and  are  clothed  with 
beautiful  green.  You  look  out  instinctively  for  the 
house  and  bam ;  for  flocks  and  herds ;  for  men,  and 
women,  and  children ;  but  they  are  not  there.  A  race 
that  is  gone  seems  to  have  cultivated  those  fields,  -and 


MINNESOTA,  THE  SKY-TINTED  WATER.  xhii 

then  to  have  silently  disappeared — leaving  them  for  the 
first  man  that  should  come  from  the  older  parts  of  our 
own  country,  or  from  foreign  lands,  to  take  possession 
of  them.  It  is  only  by  a  process  of  reflection  that  you 
are  convinced  that  it  is  not  so." 

The  state  of  Minnesota  derives  its  name  from  the 
principal  tributary  of  the  Mississippi  within  its  bounda- 
ries. The  name  is  a  compound  Dahkotah  word.  This 
nation  call  the  Missouri,  Minneshoshay,  muddy  water, 
and  this  stream  Minnesota.  The  precise  signification 
of  Sota  is  difficult  to  express.  Featherstonhaugh 
says  it  means  clear,  Schoolcraft  bluish  green,  others 
turbid.     Nicollet  remarks  : — 

"  The  adjective  Sotali  is  of  difficult  translation.  The 
Canadians  translated  it  by  a  pretty  equivalent  word 
brouille,  perhaps  more  properly  rendered  into  English 
by  blear,  as  for  instance  Minisotah,  blear  water.  I 
have  entered  upon  this  explanation  because  the  word 
sotah  really  means  neither  clear  nor  turbid,  as  some 
authors  have  asserted,  its  true  meaning  being  readily 
found,  in  the  Sioux  expression  Ishta-sotah,  blear  eyed." 

From  the  fact  that  the  word  signifies  neither  white 
nor  blue,  but  the  peculiar  appearance  of  the  sky  on 
certain  days,  the  Historical  Society  publications,  define 
Minnesota  to  mean  the  shy-tinted  water,  which  is 
certainly  poetic,  and  according  to  Gideon  II.  Pond,  one 
of  the  Ijest  Dahkotah  scholars,  correct. 

Throughout  the  work,  we  have  called  the  tribe  who 
were  the  aborigines  of  Minnesota,  Dahkotahs,  a  name 
by  which  they  recognise  themselves.  The  term  Sioux 
is  a  mere  nickname  given  for  convenience  by  the  early 
voyageurs. 

Minnesota,  as  a  state,  ought  to  have  the  highest  aspi- 


xlviii 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


rations.  The  birthplace  of  many  rivers,  flowing  north, 
south,  east,  and  west ;  with  varied  scenery,  the  prairie, 
the  forest,  the  lofty  bluff,  the  placid  lake,  and  the 
laughing  waterfall;  the  summit  of  the  central  valley  of 
North  America;  with  an  atmosphere  peculiarly  dry  and 
bracing,  it  must  ever  be  attractive  to  emigrants  from  all 
regions  of  the  world.  If  the  aims  of  her  citizens  only 
correspond  with  the  elevated  natural  position  and  ad- 
vantages, the  cattle  upon  a  thousand  hills  will  soon 
occupy  the  old  pasture-grounds  of  the  elk  and  bison, 
and  school-houses  will  crown  the  eminences  but  lately 
adorned  with  burial  scaffolds ;  and  the  State  will  become 
the  birth-place  of  not  only  majestic  rivers,  but  great 
men. 

If  the  perusal  of  the  following  pages  shall  tend  to 
foster  a  proper  State  pride,  and  interest  the  generation 
now  springing  up  in  the  history  of  their  country,  the 
chief  end  of  the  work  will  have  been  attained. 


HISTORY  or  MINNESOTA. 


CHAPTER   I. 


Minnesota  is  the  "land  of  the  Dahkotahs."  Long 
before  their  existence  was  known  to  civiUzed  men,  they 
wandered  through  the  forests,  between  Lake  Superior 
and  the  Mississippi,  in  quest  of  the  bounding  deer,  and 
over  the  prairies  beyond  in  search  of  the  ponderous 
buffalo. 

They  are  an  entirely  different  group  from  the  Algon- 
quin and  Iroquois,  who  were  found  by  the  early  settlers 
of  the  Atlantic  States,  on  the  banks  of  the  Connecticut, 
Mohawk,  and  Susquehanna  rivers.  Their  language  is 
much  more  difficult  to  comprehend;  and,  while  they 
have  many  customs  in  common  with  the  tribes  who 
once  dwelt  in  New  England,  New  York,  Pennsylvania, 
and  Illinois,  they  have  peculiarities  which  mark  them 
as  belonging  to  a  distinct  family  of  the  aborigines  of 
America. 

Winona,  Wapashaw,  Mendota,  Anoka,  Kasota,  Mah- 
kahto,  and  other  names  designating  the  towns,  hamlets, 
and  streams  of  Minnesota,  are  words  derived  from  the 
Dahkotah  vocabulary.  ^ 

Between  the  head  of  Lake  Superior  aiKl'the  Missis- 

4  (49) 


50  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

sippi  river,  above  the  Falls  of  Saint  Anthony,  is  a 
country  of  many  lakes.  So  numerous  are  they,  and 
interlaced  by  clear  and  sparkling  brooks,  to  an  aeronaut 
they  would  appear  like  a  necklace  of  diamonds,  on  silver 
filaments,  gracefully  thrown  upon  the  bosom  of  Earth. 

Surrounded  by  forests  of  the  sugar  maple — the  neigh- 
bouring marshes  fertile  in  the  growth  of  mid  rice — the 
waters  abounding  in  fish — the  shores  once  alive  with 
the  beaver,  the  otter,  the  bear,  and  the  fox — they  were 
sites  just  adapted  for  the  residence  of  an  Indian  popu- 
lation. 

When  the  Dahkotahs  were  first  noticed  by  the  Euro- 
pean adventurer,  large  numbers  were  occupjdng  this 
region  of  country,  and  appropriately  called  by  the  voya- 
geur,  "  People  of  the  Lakes."  ^  And  tradition,  asserts 
that  here,  was  the  ancient  centre  of  this  tribe.  Though 
we  have  traces  of  their  warring  and  hunting  on  the 
shores  of  Lake  Superior,  there  is  no  satisfactory  evidence 
of  their  residence,  east  of  the  Mille  Lac  region.^ 

The  word  Dahkotah,  by  which  they  love  to  be  desig- 
nated, signifies  allied  or  joined  together  in  friendly  com- 
pact, and  is  equivalent  to  "  E  pluribus  unum,"  the  motto 
on  the  seal  of  the  United  States. 

In  the  history  of  the  mission  at  La  Pointe,  Wisconsin, 
published  nearly  two  centuries  ago,  a  writer,  referring 
to  the  Dahkotahs,  remarks  : — 

"  For  sixty  leagues  from  the  extremity  of  the  Upper 
Lake,  toward  sunset ;  and,  as  it  were  m  the  centre  of 
the  western  nations,  they  have  all  united  their  force  hy 
a  general  league!' 

'  Gens  du  Lac. 

^  They  have  no  name  for  Lake  Superior. — G.  H.  Pond,  in  "  Dahkotah 
Tawaxitku  Kin." 


THE  NAMES  SIOUX,  AND  DAHKOTAH.  51 

The  Dalikotahs  in  the  earliest  documents,  and  even 
until  the  present  day,  are  called  Sioux,  Scioux,  or  Soos. 
The  name  originated  with  the  early  "  voyageurs."  For 
centuries  the  Ojibways  of  Lake  Superior  waged  war 
against  the  Dahkotahs ;  and,  whenever  they  spoke  of 
them,  called  them  Nadowaysioux,  which  signifies  ene- 
mies. 

The  French  traders,  to  avoid  exciting  the  attention 
of  Indians,  while  conversing  in  their  presence,  were 
accustomed  to  designate  them  by  names,  which  would 
not  be  recognised. 

The  Dahkotahs  were  nicknamed  Sioux,  a  word  com- 
posed, of  the  two  last  syllables,  of  the  Ojibway  word,  for 
foes. 

Charlevoix,  who  visited  Wisconsin  in  1721,  in  his 
history  of  New  France  says :  "  The  name  of  Sioux,  that 
we  give  to  these  Indians,  is  entirely  of  our  own  making, 
or  rather  it  is  the  last  two  syllables  of  the  name  of 
Nadouessioux,  as  many  nations  call  them." 

From  an  early  period,  there  have  been  three  great 
divisions  of  this  people,  which  have  been  subdivided 
into  smaller  bands.  The  first  are  called  the  Isanyati, 
the  Issati  of  Hennepin,  after  one  of  the  many  lakes 
at  the  head  waters  of  the  river,  marked  on  modern 
maps,  by  the  unpoetic  name  of  Rum.  It  is  asserted  by 
Dahkotah  missionaries  now  living,  that  this  name  was 
given  to  the  lake  because  the  stone  from  which  they 
manufactured  the  knife  (isan)  was  here  obtained.  The 
principal  band  of  the  Isanti  was  the  M'dewakanton- 
wan.'  In  the  journal  of  Le  Sueur,  they  are  spoken 
of  as  residing  on  a  lake  east  of  the  Mississippi.     Tra- 

'  Pronounced  as  if  written  Medday-wawkawn-twawn. 


52  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

dition  says  that  it  was  a  day's  walk  from  Isantamde  or 
Knife  Lake. 

On  a  map  prepared  in  Paris  in  1703,  Eum  River  is 
called  the  river  of  the  M'dewakantonwans,  and  the 
Spirit  Lake  on  which  they  dwelt,  was,  without  doubt, 
Mille  Lac  of  modern  charts. 

The  second  great  division  is  the  Ihanktonwajs",  com- 
monly called  Yankton.  They  appear  to  have  occupied 
the  region  west  of  the  M'dewakantonwan,  and  north  of 
the  Minnesota  river.  The  geographer  De  Lisle  places 
their  early  residence  in  the  vichiity  of  Traverse  des 
Sioux,  extending  northward. 

The  last  division,  the  Titonwan,  hunted  west  of  the 
Ihanktons,  and  all  the  early  maps  mark  their  villages 
at  Lac-qui-parle  and  Big  Stone  Lake. 

Hennepin,  in  August,  1679,  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Falls  of  Niagara,  met  the  Senecas  returning  from  war 
with  the  Dahkotahs,  and  with  them  some  captive  Tin- 
tonwans  (Teetwawns) . 

This  division  is  now  the  most  numerous,  and  comprises 
about  one-half  of  the  whole  nation.  They  have  wan- 
dered to  the  plains  beyond  the  Missouri,  and  are  the 
plundering  Arabs  of  America.  Whenever  they  appear 
m  sight  of  the  emigrant  train,  journeying  to  the  Pacific 
coast,  the  hearts  of  the  company  are  filled  with  painful 
apprehensions. 

North  of  the  Dahkotahs,  on  Lake  of  the  Woods  and 
the  watercourses  connecting  it  with  Lake  Superior, 
were  the  Assiniboine.  These  were  once  a  portion  of  the 
nation.  Before  the  other  divisions  of  the  Dahkotahs 
had  traded  with  the  French,  they  had  borne  their  pel- 
tries to  the  English  post,  Fort  Nelson,  on  Hudson's  Bay, 
and  had  received  in  return  British  manufactures.     By 


DIFFERENT  DAHKOTAH  BANDS.  53 

association  with  the  EngUsh,  they  learned  to  look  upon 
the  French  with  distrust,  and  in  time  to  be  hostile 
towards  those  who  had  formed  alliances  with  the 
French. 

Le  Sueur  writes,  in  relation  to  their  separation  from 
the  rest  of  the  nation,  in  these  words  : — 

"  The  Assinipoils  speak  Scioux,  and  are  certainly  of 
that  nation.  It  is  only  a  few  years  since  they  became 
enemies.  It  thus  originated  :  The  Christianaux  having 
the  use  of  arms  before  the  Scioux,  through  the  English 
at  Hudson's  Bay,  they  constantly  warred  upon  the 
Asssinipoils,  who  were  their  nearest  neighbours.  The 
latter  being  weak  sued  for  peace,  and,  to  render  it  more 
lasting,  married  the  Christianaux  women.  The  other 
Scioux,  who  had  not  made  the  compact,  continued  to 
war,  and  seeing  some  Christianaux  with  the  Assinipoils, 
broke  their  heads."  After  this  there  was  alienation.  A 
letter,  however,  written  at  Fort  Bourbon,  on  Hudson's 
Bay,  about  1695,  remarks  :  "  It  is  said  that  the  Assini- 
boins  are  a  nation  of  the  Sioux,  which  separated  from 
them  a  long  time  ago" 

The  Dahkotahs  call  these  alienated  tribes  Hohays, 
and  make  woman  the  cause  of  the  separation.  They 
are  said  to  have  belonged  to  the  Ihanktonwan  (Yankton) 
division  of  the  nation.  A  quarrel^  tradition  asserts, 
occurred  between  two  families  hunting  at  the  time  in 
the  vicinity  of  Lake  Traverse.  A  young  man  seduced 
the  wife  of  one  of  the  warriors.  The  injured  husband, 
in  attempting  to  rescue  his  wife,  was  killed  in  the  tent 
of  the  seducer.  His  father  and  some  relatives  wanted 
to  secure  the  corpse.  On  the  road,  they  Avere  met,  by 
some  of  the  friends  of  the  guilty  3'outh,  and  tbree  of 
their  number  were  killed.     The  father  then  turned  back 


54  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

and  raised  a  party  of  sixty  warriors,  who  waged  war 
against  the  seducer  and  his  friends,  which  continued 
until  the  whole  band  were  involved,  and  ended  in  a 
revolt  upon  the  part  of  the  aggressor  and  his  friends,  who 
in  time  became  a  separate  people. 

In  the  vallej^s  of  the  Blue  Earth,  the  Des  Moines,  and 
the  eastern  tributaries  of  the  Missouri,  within  the  limits 
of  the  territory  of  Minnesota,  there  also  dwelt  in  ancient 
days  bands  of  the  loways,  Ottoes,  Cheyennes,  Aricarees, 
and  Omahaws,  who  sought  other  hunting-grounds  as 
the  Dahkotahs  advanced  westward. 

The  Dahkotahs,  Uke  all  ignorant  and  barbarous  peo- 
ple, have  but  little  reflection  beyond  that  necessary  to 
gratify  the  pleasure  of  revenge  and  of  the  appetite. 

It  would  be  strange  to  find  heroes  among  skulking 
savages,  or  maidens  like  "  Minnehaha"  of  the  poet, 
among  those  whose  virtue  can  be  easily  jDurchased. 
While  there  are  exceptions,  the  general  characteristics 
of  the  Dahkotahs,  and  all  Indians,  are  indolence,  im- 
purity, and  indifference  to  the  future. 

The  religion  of  this  people  is  exceedingly  indistinct, 
and  with  reluctance  do  they  converse  on  the  subject. 
That  a  nation  so  low  in  the  scale  of  humanity  should 
have  preserved  the  idea  of  one  great  spirit,  the  father 
of  all  spirits,  the  supreme  and  most  perfect  of  beings, 
is  not  to  be  supposed.  To  attribute  to  them  more 
elevated  conceptions  than  those  of  the  cultivated  Athe- 
nians, is  perfect  absurdity.  The  Dahkotahs,  in  their 
religious  belief,  are  polytheists.  The  hunter,  as  he 
passes  over  the  plains,  finds  a  granite  boulder :  he  stops 
and  prays  to  it,  for  it  is  "  Wawhaw)!!' — mysterious  or 
supernatural.  At  another  time,  he  will  pray  to  his 
dog ;  and  at  another  time,  to  the  sun,  moon,  or  stars. 


DAHKOTAH  WORSHIP  AND  GODS.  55 

In  every  leaf,  in  every  stone,  in  every  shrub,  there  is  a 
spirit.  It  may  be  said  of  them,  as  Cotton  Mather  said 
of  the  Massachusetts  Indians,  in  his  Life  of  EUot :  "  All 
the  religion  they  have  amounts  to  thus  much :  they 
beUeve  that  there  are  many  gods,  who  made  and  own 
the  several  nations  of  the  world.  They  believe  that 
every  remarkable  creature  has  a  peculiar  god  within  or 
about  it ;  there  is  with  them  a  sun  god  or  a  moon  god 
and  the  like  \  and  they  cannot  conceive  but  that  the  fire 
must  be  a  kind  of  god,  masmuch  as  a  spark  of  it  will 
soon  produce  very  strange  effects.  They  believe  that 
when  any  good  or  ill  happens  to  them,  there  is  the 
favour  or  anger  of  a  god  expressed  in  it." 

The  Dahkotahs  have  greater  and  minor  deities,  and 
they  are  supposed  to  multiply  as  men  and  animals,  and 
the  superior  to  have  power  to  extermmate  the  inferior. 

The  Jupiter  Maximus  of  the  Dahkotahs  is  styled 
Oanktayhee.  As  the  ancient  Hebrews  avoided  speak- 
ing the  name  of  Jehovah,  so  they  dislike  to  speak  the 
name  of  this  deity,  but  call  him  "  Taku-w^akan,"  or 
"  That  which  is  supernatural."  This  mighty  god  mani- 
fests himself  as  a  large  ox.  His  eyes  are  as  large  as  the 
moon.  He  can  haul  in  his  horns  and  tail,  or  he  can 
lengthen  them,  as  he  pleases.  From  him  proceed  in- 
visible influences.  In  his  extremities  reside  mighty 
powers. 

He  is  said  to  have  created  the  earth.  Assembling  in 
grand  conclave  all  of  the  aquatic  tribes,  he  ordered  them 
to  bring  up  dirt  from  beneath  the  water,  and  proclaimed 
death  to  the  disobedient.  The  beaver  and  others  for- 
feited their  lives.  At  last  the  muskrat  went  beneath 
the  waters,  and,  after  a  long  time,  appeared  at  the  sur- 
face nearly  exhausted,  with   some   dirt.      From   this, 


56  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

Oanktayhee  fashioned  the  earth  into  a  large  circular 
plain. 

The  earth  being  finished,  he  took  a  deity,  one  of  his 
own  offspring,  and  grinding  him  to  powder,  sprinkled  it 
upon  the  earth,  and  this  produced  many  worms.  The 
worms  were  then  collected  and  scattered  again.  They 
matured  into  infants ;  and  these  were  then  collected  and 
scattered  and  became  full-grown  Dahkotahs. 

The  bones  of  the  mastodon,  the  Dahkotahs  think,  are 
those  of  Oanktayhee,  and  they  preserve  them  with  the 
greatest  care  in  the  medicine  bag.  It  is  the  belief  of 
the  Dahkotahs  that  the  Rev.  R.  Hopkins,  who  was 
drowned  at  Traverse  des  Sioux,  on  July  4th,  1851,  was 
killed  by  Oanktayhee,  who  dwells  in  the  waters,  because 
he  had  preached  against  him. 

This  deity  is  supposed  to  have  a  dwelling-place 
beneath  the  Falls  of  Saint  Anthony.  A  few  years  ago, 
by  the  sudden  breaking  up  of  a  gorge  of  ice,  a  cabin 
near  Fort  Snelling,  containing  a  soldier,  was  swept  off 
by  the  flood.  The  Dahkotahs  supposed  that  this  great 
god  was  descending  the  river  at  the  time,  and,  being 
hungry,  devoured  the  man. 

Hay-o-kah  {the  anti-natural  god) . — There  are  four  per- 
sons in  this  godhead.  The  first  appears  like  a  tall  and 
slender  man  with  two  faces,  like  the  Janus  of  ancient 
mythology.  Apollo-like,  he  holds  a  bow  in  his  hand 
streaked  with  red  lightning,  also  a  rattle  of  deer  claws. 
The  second  is  a  little  old  man  with  a  cocked  hat  and 
enormous  ears,  holding  a  yellow  bow.  The  third,  a  man 
with  a  flute  suspended  from  his  neck.  TYie  fourth  is 
invisible  and  mysterious,  and  is  the  gentle  zephyr  which 
bends  the  grass  and  causes  the  ripple  of  the  water. 

Hayokah  is  a  perfect  paradox.    He  calls  bitter  sweet, 


HAYOKAH,  AND  OTHER  DEITIES.  57 

and  sweet  bitter ;  he  groans  when  he  is  full  of  joy ;  he 
laughs  when  he  is  in  distress ;  he  calls  black,  white,  and 
white,  black ;  when  he  wishes  to  tell  the  truth  he  speaks 
a  lie,  and  when  he  desires  to  lie,  he  speaks  the  truth ;  in 
winter  he  goes  naked,  and  in  summer  he  Avraps  up  in 
buffalo  robes.  The  little  hills  on  the  prairies  are  called 
Hay-o-kah-tee,  or  the  house  of  Hay-o-kah.  Those  whom 
he  inspires,  can  make  the  winds  blow  and  the  rain  fall, 
the  grass  to  grow  and  wither. 

There  is  said  to  exist  a  clan  who  especially  adore  this 
deity,  and  at  times  dance  in  his  honour.  At  dawn  of  day 
they  assemble  within  a  teepee,  in  the  centre  of  which  is 
a  fire,  over  which  are  suspended  kettles.  With  cone- 
shaped  hats  and  ear-rings,  both  made  of  bark,  and  loins 
girded  with  the  same  material,  they  look  like  incarnate 
demons.  On  their  hats  are  zigzag  streaks  of  paint — 
representations  of  lightning. 

The  company  remain  seated  and  smoking  around  the 
fire,  until  the  water  ui  the  kettle  begins  to  boil,  which 
is  a  signal  for  the  commencement  of  the  dance.  The 
excitement  now  becomes  intense.  They  jump,  shout, 
and  sing  around  the  fire,  and  at  last  plunge  their  hands 
into  the  cauldron,  seize  and  eat  the  boiled  meat.  Then 
they  throw  the  scalding  water,  on  each  others  backs, 
the  sufferers  never  wincing,  but  insisting  that  it  is  cold. 

Taku-shkan-shkan. — This  deity  is  supposed  to  be 
invisible,  yet  everywhere  present.  He  is  full  of  revenge, 
exceedingly  wrathful,  very  deceitful,  and  a  searcher  of 
hearts.  His  favourite  haunts  are  the  four  winds,  and 
the  granite  boulders  strewn  on  the  plains  of  Minnesota. 
He  is  never  so  happy  as  when  he  beholds  scalps,  warm 
and  reeking  with  blood. 

The  object  of  that  strange  ceremony  of  the  Dahko- 


58  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

tahs,  in  which  the  performer  being  bound  hand  and  foot 
with  the  greatest  care,  is  suddenly  unbound  by  an  invi- 
sible agent,  is  to  obtain  an  interview  with  Taku-shkan- 
shkan. 

The  name  of  another  one  of  the  superior  divinities 
is  Wahkeenyan.  His  teepee  is  supposed  to  be  on  a 
mound  on  the  top  of  a  high  mountain,  in  the  far  West. 
The  teepee  or  tent  has  four  openings,  with  sentinels 
clothed  in  red  down.  A  butterfly  is  stationed  at  the 
east,  a  bear  at  the  west,  a  fawn  at  the  south,  and  a 
reindeer  at  the  north  entrance.  He  is  supposed  to  be 
a  gigantic  bird,  the  flapping  of  whose  wings  makes 
thunder.  He  has  a  bitter  enmity  against  Oanktayhee, 
and  attempts  to  kill  his  offspring.  The  high  water  a 
few  years  ago  was  supposed  to  be  caused  by  his  shooting 
through  the  earth,  and  allowing  the  water  to  flow  out. 
When  the  lightning  strikes  their  teepees  or  the  ground, 
they  think  that  Oanktayhee  was  near  the  surface  of  the 
earth,  and  that  Wahkeenyan,  in  great  rage,  fired  a  hot 
thunderbolt  at  him. 

By  him  wild  rice,  is  said  to  have  been  created,  also 
the  spear,  and  tomahawk. 

A  bird  of  thunder  was  once  killed,  the  Indians  assert, 
near  Kaposia.  Its  face  resembled  the  human 'counte- 
nance. Its  nose  was  hooked  like  the  bill  of  an  eagle. 
Its  wings  had  four  joints,  and  zigzag  like  the  lightning. 

About  thirty  miles  from  Big  Stone  Lake,  near  the 
head  waters  of  the  Minnesota,  there  are  several  small 
lakes  bordered  with  oak-trees.  This  is  the  supposed 
JDirth-place  of  the  Thunder  Bird,  and  is  called  the  Nest 
of  Thunder.  The  first  step  the  spirit  ever  took  in  this 
world  was  equal  to  that  of  the  hero,  in  the  child's  story, 
who  wore  seven-league  boots,  being  twenty-five  miles  in 
length.     A  rock  is  pointed  out  which  has  a  foot-like 


WAHKEENYAN.— THUNDER  BIRD.  59 

impression,  which  they  say  is  his  track ;  and  the  hill  is 
called  Thunder  Tracks. 

A  son  of  Colonel  Snelling,  the  first  commander  of 
the  fort  of  that  name,  in  a  poem,  which  is  published  in 
Griswold's  collection  of  American  poetry,  alludes  to  the 
foregoing  incidents : — 

"  The  moon  that  night  withheld  her  light. 
By  fits,  instead,  a  lurid  glare 
Illumed  the  skies  ;  while  mortal  eyes 

Were  closed,  and  voices  rose  in  prayer 
While  the  revolving  sun 
Three  times  his  course  might  run, 

The  dreadful  darkness  lasted ; 
And  all  that  time  the  red  man's  eye 
A  sleeping  spirit  might  espy. 
Upon  a  tree-top  cradled  high, 

Whose  trunk  his  breath  had  blasted. 
So  long  he  slept,  he  grew  so  fast, 

Beneath  his  weight  the  gnarlfed  oak 
Snapped,  as  the  tempest  snaps  the  mast : 

It  fell,  and  Thunder  woke  ! 
The  world  to  its  foundation  shook. 
The  grizzly  bear  his  prey  forsook. 
The  scowling  heaven  an  aspect  bore 
That  man  had  never  seen  before ; 
The  wolf  in  terror  fled  away, 
And  shone  at  last  the  light  of  day. 

"  'Twas  here  he  stood ;  these  lakes  attest 
Where  first  Waw-kee-an's  footsteps  press'd. 
About  his  burning  brow  a  cloud, 

Black  as  the  raven's  wing,  he  wore ; 
Thick  tempests  wrapt  him  like  a  shroud, 

Red  lightnings  in  his  hand  he  bore ; 
Like  two  bright  suns  his  eyeballs  shone, 
His  voice  was  like  the  cannon's  tone ; 
And,  where  he  breathed,  the  land  became, 
Prairie  and  wood,  one  sheet  of  flame. 

"  Not  long  upon  this  mountain  height 
The  first  and  worst  of  storms  abode. 


60  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

For,  moving  iu  his  fearful  might, 

Abroad  the  GoD-begotten  strode. 
Afar,  on  yonder  faint  blue  mound. 
In  the  horizon's  utmost  bound, 
At  the  first  stride  his  foot  he  set ; 

The  jarring  world  confessed  the  shock. 
Stranger !  the  track  of  Thunder  yet 

Remains  upon  the  living  rock. 

"  The  second  step,  he  gained  the  sand 
On  far  Superior's  storm-beat  strand : 
Then  with  his  shout  the  concave  rung. 
As  up  to  heaven  the  giant  sprung 

On  high,  beside  his  sire  to  dwell ; 
But  still,  of  all  the  spots  on  earth, 
He  loves  the  woods  that  gave  him  birth. — 

Such  is  the  tale  our  fathers  tell." 

After  an  individual  has  dreamed  in  relation  to  the 
sun,  there  are  sacred  ceremonies.  Two  persons  are  the 
participants,  who  assume  a  pecuhar  attitude.  Almost 
naked,  holding  a  small  whistle  in  their  mouths,  they 
look  towards  the  sun,  and  dance  mth  a  strange  and 
awkward  step.  One  of  their  mterpreters  remarks, 
"  The  nearest  and  best  comparison  I  can  make  of  them 
when  worshipping,  is  a  frog  held  up  by  the  middle  with 
its  legs  half  drawn  up." 

During  the  continuance  of  the  ceremony,  which  may 
last  two  or  three  days,  the  parties  fast. 

When  a  Dahkotah  is  troubled  in  spirit,  and  desires  to 
be  delivered  from  real  or  imaginary  danger,  he  will  select 
a  stone  that  is  round  and  portable,  and,  placing  it  in  a 
spot  free  from  grass  and  underbrush,  he  will  streak  it 
with  red  paint,  and,  offering  to  it  some  feathers,  he  will 
pray  to  it  for  help.  The  stone,  after  the  ceremony  is 
over,  does  not  appear  to  be  regarded  with  veneration. 
If  visitors  request  them,  they  can  be  obtained. 


SACRED  MEN  INITIATED.  61 


CHAPTER   11. 

In  all  nations  where  the  masses  are  unenlightened, 
their  spiritual  nature  is  uncultivated,  and  they  believe 
whatever  a  class  of  men  pretending  to  have  authority 
from  the  spirit  world,  may  impose  upon  them.  All 
ignorant  communities  are  superstitious  and  easily  priest- 
ridden.  The  early  Britons  looked  upon  the  Druids,  as 
a  supernatural,  and  wonder-working  class,  and  they 
fed,  and  feared  them.  The  Wawkawn,  or  medicine 
men,  hold  the  same  relation  to  the  Dahkotahs  as  the 
Druids  to  the  ancient  Britons.  They  are  the  most 
powerful  and  influential  of  the  tribe.  They  are  looked 
upon  as  a  species  of  demi-gods.  They  assert  their 
origin  to  be  miraculous.  At  first  they  are"  spiritual 
existences,  encased  in  a  seed  of  some  description  of  a 
winged  nature,  like  the  thistle.  Wafted  by  the  breeze 
to  the  dwelling-place  of  the  gods,  they  are  received  to 
intimate  communion.  After  being  instructed  in  rela- 
tion to  the  mysteries  of  the  spirit  world,  they  go  forth 
to  study  the  character  of  all  tribes.  After  deciding 
upon  a  residence,  they  enter  the  body  of  some  one 
about  to  become  a  mother,  and  are  ushered  by  her  into 
the  world.  A  great  majority  of  the  M'dewakantonwans 
are  medicine  men. 

"When  an  individual  desires  to  belong  to  this  priest- 


62  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

hood,  he  is  initiated  by  what  is  termed  a  ''medicine 
dance."  This  dance  is  said  to  have  been  instituted 
by  Oanktayhee,  the  patron  of  medicine  men.  The 
editor  of  the  "Dahkotah  Friend,"  in  a  description  of 
this  dance,  remarks  : — 

"  When  a  member  is  to  be  received  into  this  society, 
it  is  his  duty,  to  take  the  hot  bath,  four  days  in  succes- 
sion. In  the  mean  time,  some  of  the  elders  of  the 
society  instruct  him  in  the  mysteries  of  the  medicine, 
and  Wahmnoo-Aah — shell  in  the  throat.  He  is  also 
provided  with  a  dish  (wojute)  and  spoon.  On  the  side 
of  the  dish  is  sometimes  carved  the  head  of  some  vora- 
cious animal,  in  which  resides  the  spirit  of  Eeyah  (glut^ 
ton  god).  This  dish  is  always  carried  by  its  owner  to 
the  medicine  feast,  and  it  is  his  duty,  ordinarily,  to  eat 
all  which  is  served  up  in  it.  Gray  Iron  has  a  dish 
which  was  given  him  at  the  time  of  his  initiation,  on 
the  bottom  of  which  is  carved,  a  bear  complete.  The 
candidate  is  also  instructed  with  what  paints,  and  in 
what  manner,  he  shall  paint  himself,  which  must  always 
be  the  same,  when  he  appears  in  the  dance.  There  is 
supernatural  virtue  in  this  paint,  and  the  manner  in 
which  it  is  applied ;  and  those  who  have  not  been  fur- 
nished with  a  better,  by  the  regular  war  prophets,  wear 
it  into  battle,  as  a  life-preserver.  The  bag  contains 
besides,  the  claws  of  animals,  with  the  toanwan  of 
which  they  can,  it  is  beheved,  inflict  painful  diseases 
and  death  on  whomsoever,  and  whenever,  they  desire. 

"  The  candidate  being  thus  duly  prepared  for  initia^ 
tion,  and  having  made  the  necessary  offerings  for  the 
benefit  of  the  institution,  on  the  evening  of  the  day  pre- 
vious to  the  dance  a  lodge  is  prepared,  and  from  ten  to 
twenty  of  the  more  substantial  members  pass  the  night 


MEDICINE  DANCE  AND  SONGS.  63 

in  singing,  dancing,  and  feasting.  In  the  morning,  the 
tent  is  opened  for  the  dance.  After  a  few  appropriate 
ceremonies  preliminary  to  the  grand  operation,  the  can- 
didate takes  his  place  on  a  pile  of  blankets  which  he 
has  contributed  for  the  occasion,  naked,  except  the 
breech-cloth  and  moccasins,  duly  painted  and  prepared 
for  the  mysterious  operation.  An  elder  having  been 
stationed  in  the  rear  of  the  novice,  the  master  of  the 
ceremonies,  with  his  knee  and  hip  joints  bent  to  an 
angle  of  about  forty-five  degrees,  advances,  with  an 
unsteady,  unnatural  step,  with  his  bag  in  his  hand, 
uttering,  "  Heen,  lieen,  lieen"  with  great  energy,  and 
raising  the  bag  near  a  painted  spot  on  the  breast  of  the 
candidate,  gives  the  discharge,  the  person  stationed  in 
the  rear  gives  him  a  push  forward  at  the  same  instant, 
and  as  he  falls  headlong  throws  the  blankets  over  him. 
Then,  while  the  dancers  gather  around  him  and  chant, 
the  master  throws  off  the  covering,  and,  chewing  a  piece 
of  the  bone  of  the  Oanktay^ee,  spirts  it  over  him,  and 
he  revives,  and  resumes  a  sitting  posture.  All  then 
return  to  their  seats  except  the  master;  he  approaches, 
and,  making  indescribable  noises,  pats  upon  the  breast 
of  the  novice,  till  the  latter,  in  agonizing  throes,  heaves 
up  the  AVahmnoo-^ah  or  shell,  which  falls  from  his 
mouth  upon  the  bag  which  had  been  previously  spread 
before  him  for  that  purpose.  Life  being  now  completely 
restored,  and  with  the  mysterious  shell  in  his  open 
hand,  the  new-made  member  passes  around  and  exhi- 
bits it  to  all  the  members  and  to  the  wondering  by- 
standers, and  the  ceremonies  of  initiation  are  closed. 
The  dance  continues,  interspersed  with  shooting  each 
other,  rests,  smoking,  and  taking  refreshments,  till  they 
have  jumped  to  the  music  of  four  sets  of  singers.     Be- 


6-t  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

sides  vocal  music,  tliey  make  use  of  the  drum  and  the 
gourd-shell  rattle.  The  following  chants,  which  are 
used  in  the  dance,  will  best  exhibit  the  character  of 
this  mysterious  institution  of  the  Oanktay/iee  : — 

"  Waduta  ohna  micage. 
Waduta  ohna  micage. 
Miniyata  ite  wakan  de  maqu, 
Tunkanixdan. 

"  He  created  it  for  me  enclosed  in  red  down. 
He  created  it  for  me  enclosed  in  red  down. 
He  in  the  water  with  a  mysterious  visage  gave  me  this, 
My  grandfather. 

"  Tunkanixdan  pejihuta  wakan  micage, 
He  wicake. 
Miniyata  oicage  wakan  kin  maqu  ye, 

Tunkanixdan  ite  kin  yuwinta  wo. 
Wahutopa  yuha  ite  yuwinto  wo. 

"My  grandfather  created  for  me  mysterious  medicine, 
That  is  true. 
The  mysterious  being  in  the  water  gave  it  to  me. 

Stretch  out  your  hand  before  the  face  of  my  grandfather, 
Having  a  quadruped,  stretch  out  your  hand  before  him." 

The  medicine  pouch  is  the  skin  of  an  otter,  fox,  or 
similar  animal,  containing  certain  articles  which  are 
held  sacred. 

A  warrior  leaving  his  village  to  hunt,  gave  his  pouch 
to  a  friend  of  the  writer,  who  had  dwelt  as  a  missionary 
among  the  Dahkotahs  for  a  score  of  years.  The  owner 
having  died,  he  retained  it,  and,  being  at  his  house  one 
day,  it  was,  at  my  request,  opened.  The  contents  were 
some  dried  mud,  a  dead  beetle,  a  few  roots,  and  a  scrap 
of  an  old  letter,  which  had  probably  been  picked  up 
about  the  walls  of  Fort  Snelling. 

Where  the  science  of  medicine  is  not  understood,  the 


PRACTICE  OF  MEDICINE.— VAPOUR  BATH.  G5 

inhabitants  are  very  superstitious  concerning  the  sick. 
Those  who  are  prominent  in  their  devotion  to  the  sacred 
rites  of  a  heathen  tribe,  generally  act  as  physicians. 
The  Druids  of  the  early  Britons  performed  the  duties 
of  doctors,  and  the  conjurers,  or  medicine  men,  as  they 
are  generally  termed,  are  called  to  attend  the  sick  Dah- 
kotahs.  This  tribe  of  Indians  are  well  acquainted  with 
the  bones  of  the  body ;  but  no  Dr.  Hunter  has  yet  risen 
among  them  to  explain  the  circulation  of  the  blood,  and 
therefore  they  have  but  a  single  word  for  nerves,  arteries, 
and  veins.  When  a  young  man  is  sick,  he  is  generally 
well  watched;  but  old  persons,  and  those  that  have 
some  deformity,  are  often  neglected.  To  effect  a  cure, 
they  often  practise  what  is  called  steaming.  They 
erect  a  small  tent  covered  with  thick  buffalo  robes,  in 
which  they  place  some  hot  stones.  Stripj)ing  the  sick 
person  of  his  blanket,  they  place  him  in  the  tent. 
Water  is  then  thrown  upon  the  hot  stones,  which  creates 
considerable  vapour.  After  the  patient  has  been  confined 
in  this  close  tent  for  some  time,  and  has  perspired  pro- 
fusely, they  occasionally  take  him  out  and  plunge  him 
into  the  waters  of  an  adjacent  river  or  lake. 

This  custom  is  very  ancient.  One  of  the  first  white 
men  who  appear  to  have  resided  amongst  them,  was  a 
Franciscan  priest,  named  Hennepin.  He  was  made 
their  prisoner  in  the  year  1680,  while  travelling  on  the 
Mississippi,  above  the  Wisconsin  river.  The  Dahkotahs 
took  him  to  their  villages  on  the  shores  of  Rum  river, 
at  Mille  Lac,  where  he  was  quartered  in  a  chief's  lodge, 
whose  name  was  Aquipaguetin.  The  chief  observing 
that  Hennepin  was  much  fiitigued,  ordered  an  oven  to 
be  made,  which,  to  use  the  words  of  the  Franciscan, 
"  he   ordered    me   to   enter,    stark   naked,    with   four 

5 


G6  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

savages.  The  oven  was  covered  with  buffalo  hides,  and 
in  it  they  placed  red-hot  flint  and  other  stones.  They 
ordered  me  to  hold  my  breath  as  long  as  I  could.  As 
soon  as  the  savages  that  were  'vyith  me  let  go  their 
breath,  which  they  did  with  a  great  force,  Aquipaguetin 
began  to  sing.  The  others  seconded  him ;  and  laying 
their  hands  on  my  body  began  to  rub,  and  at  the  same 
time  cry  bitterly.  I  was  near  fainting,  and  forced  to 
leave  the  oven.  At  my  coming  out,  I  could  scarcely 
take  up  my  cloak.  However,  they  continued  to  make 
me  sweat  thrice  a  week,  which  at  last  restored  me  to 
my  former  vigour." 

When  a  Dahkotah  is  very  sick,  the  friends  call  in  a 
conjurer  or  medicine  man.  Before  we  proceed,  it  is 
proper  to  explain  the  meaning  of  the  term  "  medicine 
man."  Anything  that  is  mysterious  or  wonderful,  the 
Dahkotahs  call  "  Wawkawn."  The  early  explorers  and 
traders  in  Minnesota  were  French,  and  they  always 
call  a  doctor  "medecin."  As  the  Indian  doctors  are 
all  dealers  in  mysteries,  the  word  "medicine"  has  at 
last  obtained  a  local  signification,  meaning  anything 
that  is  mysterious  or  unaccountable.  A  "medicine 
man"  means,  then,  a  doctor  who  calls  to  his  aid  charms 
and  incantations.  The  medicine  men  are  divided  into 
war  prophets,  and  conjurers  or  doctors. 

A  Dahkotah,  when  he  is  sick,  believes  that  he  is  pos- 
sessed by  the  spirit  of  some  animal,  or  insect,  or  enemy. 
The  medicine  men,  are  supposed  to  have  great  power  of 
suction  in  their  jaws,  by  which  they  can  draw  out  the 
spirit  that  afflicts  the  patient,  and  thus  restore  him  to 
health.  They  are  much  feared  by  all  the  tribe.  The 
doctor  is  called  to  see  a  sick  person  by  sending  some  one 
with  a  present  of  a  horse  or  blankets,  or  something  as 


MEDICAL  PRACTICE.  67 

valuable.  The  messenger  sometimes  carries  a  bell,  and 
rings  aromid  the  lodge  until  the  conjurer  makes  his 
appearance ;  at  other  times  he  bears  to  the  doctor's 
lodge  a  lighted  pipe,  and  presenting  it  to  him,  places 
his  hands  on  his  head  and  moans. 

'•  The  person  sent  to  call  on  the  doctor,  strips  himself 
for  running,  retaining  only  his  breech  cloth,  and  carry- 
ing a  bell.  He  enters  the  lodge,  and  without  further 
ceremony,  strikes  the  doctor  with  his  foot,  jingles  his 
bell,  and  suddenly  issuing  from  the  lodge,  runs  with  all 
his  might  for  the  sick  man's  lodge,  with  the  doctor  at 
his  heels.  If  the  latter  overtakes  and  kicks  him  before 
he  reaches  the  lodge,  he  does  not  proceed  any  further, 
but  returns  home.  Another  person  is  then  despatched, 
and  it  is  not  until  one  is  sent  who  is  too  swift  for  him, 
that  the  doctor's  services  can  be  secured." 

The  doctor  having  entered  the  tent,  ^vithout  touching 
the  patient,  begins  to  strip  himself,  leaving  nothing  upon 
his  body  but  the  breech  cloth,  and  moccasins.  Having 
obtained  a  sacred  rattle,  which  is  nothing  more  than  a 
dried  gourd,  filled  with  a  few  kernels  of  corn,  or  beads, 
he  begins  to  shake  and  sing  in  unearthly  monotones. 
He  now  gets  upon  his  knees,  and,  to  use  a  vulgarism, 
"  crawls  on  all  fours,"  up  to  his  patient.  After  a  few 
moments  we  see  him  rise  again  retching  violently,  and 
picking  up  a  bowl  of  water  thrusts  his  face  therein,  and 
Ijegins  to  make  a  gurgling  noise.  Into  this  bowl  he 
professes  to  expectorate  the  spirit  which  has  incited  the 
disease.  The  doctor  having  decided  what  animal  has 
possessed  his  patient,  he  has  an  image  of  the  animal  made 
out  of  bark,  and  placed  outside  near  the  tent  door  in  a 
vessel  of  water.  Mr.  Prescott,  United  States  Interpreter 
of  the  Dahkotahs,  in  a  communication  upon  this  subject 


C8  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

says  :  "  The  animal  made  of  JDark  is  to  be  shot.  Two 
or  three  Indians  are  in  waiting,  standing  near  the  bowl, 
with  loaded  guns,  ready  to  shoot  when  the  conjurer 
gives  the  signal.  To  be  sure  that  the  conjuring  shall 
have  the  desired  effect,  a  woman  must  stand  astride  the 
bowl,  when  the  men  fire  into  it,  with  her  dress  raised 
as  high  as  the  knees.  The  men  are  instructed  how  to 
act  by  the  conjurer;  and  as  soon  as  he  makes  his  ap- 
pearance out  of  doors,  they  all  fire  into  the  bowl,  and 
blow  the  little  bark  animal  to  f)ieces.  The  woman 
steps  aside,  and  the  juggler  makes  a  jump  at  the  bowl 
on  his  hands  and  knees,  and  commences  blubbering  in 
the  water.  While  this  is  going  on,  the  woman  has  to 
jump  on  the  juggler's  back,  and  stand  there  a  moment; 
then  she  gets  off,  and  as  soon  as  he  has  finished  his 
incantations,  the  woman  takes  him  by  the  hair  of  his 
head,  and  pulls  him  back  into  the  lodge.  If  there  are 
any  fragments  found  of  the  animal  that  has  been  shot, 
they  are  buried.  If  this  does  not  cure,  a  similar  cere- 
mony is  performed,  but  some  other  kind  of  animal  is 
shaped  out." 

Among  the  earliest  songs,  to  which  a  Dahkotah  child 
listens,  are  those  of  war.  As  soon  as  he  begins  to  totter 
about,  he  carries  as  a  plaything,  a  miniature  bow,  and 
arrow.  The  first  thing  he  is  taught,  as  great  and  truly 
noble,  is  taking  a  scalp,  and  he  pants  to  perform  an  act, 
which  is  so  manly.  At  the  age  of  sixteen,  he  is  often 
on  the  war  path.  When  a  boy  is  of  the  proper  age  to 
go  to  war,  he  is  presented  with  weapons,  or  he  makes  a 
war  club.  He  then  consecrates  certain  parts  of  animals, 
which  he  vows,  not  to  eat.  After  he  has  killed  an  enemy, 
he  is  at  liberty,  to  eat  of  any  one  of  those  portions  of  an 
animal,  from  which  he  agreed  to  abstain.     If  he  kills 


CRUELTY  TO  FOES.  69 

another  person,  the  prohibition  is  taken  off  from  another 
part,  until  finally  he  has  emancipated  himself  from  his 
oath,  by  his  bravery.  Before  young  men  go  out  on  a 
war  party,  they  endeavour  to  propitiate  the  patron  deity 
by  a  feast.  Durmg  the  hours  of  night,  they  celebrate 
the  "  armour  feast,"  which  is  distmguished  by  drumming, 
singing,  and  agonizing  shrieks. 

The  war  prophets  or  priests,  by  the  narrating  of  pre- 
tended dreams,  or  by  inspiring  oratory,  incite  the  tribe 
against  an  enemy.  If  a  party  are  successful  in  securing 
scalps,  they  paint  themselves  black,  and  return  home  in 
mad  triumph.  As  they  approach  their  village,  those 
who  are  there  run  forth  to  greet  them,  and  strip  them 
of  their  clothes,  and  supply  them  wdtli  others.  The 
scalp  is  very  carefully  prepared  for  exhibition,  being 
painted  red,  and  stretched  upon  a  hoop,  which  is  fastened 
to  a  pole.  If  the  scalp  is  from  a  man,  it  is  decked  with 
an  eagle's  feather,  if  from  a  w^oman,  with  a  comb.  At 
a  scalp  dance,  which  we  once  attended  at  Kaposia,  the 
braves  stood  on  one  side  of  the  circle,  drumming  and 
rattling,  and  shouting  a  monotonous  song,  reminding 
one  of  a  song  of  chimney  sweeps  of  a  city.  The 
women,  standing  opposite  to  the  men,  advanced  and 
retreated  from  the  men,  squeaking  in  an  unearthly  man- 
ner, a  sort  of  chorus.  This  is  the  chief  dance,  in  which 
the  women,  engage.  If  a  scalp  is  taken  in  summer,  they 
dance  until  the  falling  of  the  leaves ;  if  in  winter,  until 
the  leaves  begin  to  appear.  When  the  scalp  is  freshly 
painted,  as  it  is  four  times,  it  is  a  great  occasion.  After 
their  mad  orgies,  have  ceased,  they  burn  or  ])ury  it.  An 
eagle's  feather,  with  a  red  spot,  in  the  head  of  some  of 
those  Indians  walking  through  our  settlements,  is  a  badge 
that  the  possessor  has  killed  a  foe.     If  the  feather  is 


70  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

notched  and  bordered  with  red,  or  clipped  and  topped 
with  red,  it  signifies  that  a  throat  has  been  cut.  The 
red  hand  on  a  blanket,  shows  that  the  man  has  been 
wounded  by  an  enemy ;  but  the  black  hand,  that  he  has 
killed  his  enemy.  The  Dahkotahs,  like  other  savages 
in  war,  show  no  sympathy  for  sex,  infancy,  or  old  age. 
At  Pokeguma,  the  Kaposia  band  scalped  two  little  girls 
that  attended  the  mission  school ;  buried  a  tomahawk  in 
their  brains ;  severed  the  hands  from  the  bodies ;  and  then 
set  them  up  in  the  sand.  Mr.  Riggs  narrates  an  inci- 
dent of  some  of  the  upper  bands  of  Dahkotahs,  pursuing 
a  weak  Ojibway  mother.  To  save  her  life  she  swam  a 
stream.  Half  naked  she  reached  the  opposite  bank,  and 
dropped  down,  too  much  exhausted  to  attempt  to  pro- 
ceed. With  the  delight  of  demons  just  let  loose  from 
hell,  her  pursuers  came  over,  stabbed  and  scalped  her. 
Prematurely,  ushering  her  unborn  babe  into  existence, 
they  dashed  its  brains  out,  upon  the  ground.  Returning 
with  a  poor,  sick  mother's  scalp,  they  came  home  as 
"  conquering  heroes  come,"  and  were  received  with  pride 
and  honour.  Such  is  savage  warfare,  and  the  savage  idea 
of  what  constitutes  true  glory.  But,  notwithstanding 
their  horrid  mode  of  warfare,  they  are  not  destitute  of 
affection  for  their  own  offspring  or  friends. 

The  Dahkotahs  assert  that  a  mother  is  with  her  absent 
children  whenever  they  think  of  her,  and  that  she  feels 
a  pain  in  her  breast  (or  heart)  whenever  anything  of 
moment  happens  to  them.  When  a  child  dies,  like 
Rachel,  they  refuse  to  be  comforted.  The  following 
paraphrase  of  the  lament  of  a  bereaved  Indian  mother, 
prepared  for  the  "  Dakota  Friend,"  is  full  of  poetry  :  "  Me 
clioonkshee!  Me  clioonhshee !  (my  daughter,  my  daughter,) 
alas !  alas !    My  hope,  my  comfort  has  departed,  my 


A  MOTHER'S  WAIL  OVER  HER  INFANT.  71 

heart  is  very  sad.  My  joy  is  turned  into  sorrow,  and 
my  song  into  wailing.  Shall  I  never  behold  thy  sunny 
smile  ?  Shall  I  never  more  hear  the  music  of  thy  voice  ? 
The  Great  Spirit  has  entered  my  lodge  in  anger,  and 
taken  thee  from  me,  my  first  born  and  only  child.  I 
am  comfortless  and  must  wail  out  my  grief.  The  pale 
faces  repress  their  sorrow,  but  we  children  of  nature 
must  give  vent  to  ours  or  die.  Me  choonkshee !  me 
choonkshee  ! 

"  The  Hght  of  my  eyes  is  extinguished ;  all,  all  is  dark. 
I  have  cast  from  me  all  comfortable  clothing,  and  robed 
myself  in  comfortless  skins,  for  no  clothing,  no  fire,  can 
warm  thee,  my  daughter.  Unwashed  and  uncombed,  I 
will  mourn  for  thee,  whose  long  locks  I  can  never  more 
braid ;  and  whose  cheeks  I  can  never  again  tinge  with 
Vermillion.  I  will  cut  ofi"  my  dishevelled  hair,  for  my 
grief  is  great,  me  choonkshee  !  me  choonkshee  !  How 
can  I  survive  thee  ?  How  can  I  be  happy,  and  you  a 
homeless  wanderer  to  the  spirit  land  ?  How  can  I  eat 
if  you  are  hungry  ?  I  will  go  to  the  grave  with  food 
for  your  spirit.  Your  bowl  and  spoon  are  placed  in 
your  coffin  for  use  on  the  journe3\  The  feast  for  your 
playmates  has  been  made  at  the  place  of  interment. 
Knowest  thou  of  their  presence  ?  Me  choonkshee !  me 
choonkshee ! 

"  When  spring  returns,  the  choicest  of  ducks  shall  be 
your  portion.  Sugar  and  berries  also  shall  be  placed 
near  your  grave.  Neither  grass  nor  flowers  shall  be 
allowed  to  grow  thereon.  Affection  for  thee  will  keep 
the  little  mound  desolate,  like  the  heart  from  which 
thou  art  torn.  My  daughter,  I  come,  I  come.  I  bring 
you  parched  corn.  Oh,  how  long  will  you  sleep  ?  The 
wintry  winds  wail  your  requiem.     The  cold   earth  is 


72  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

your  bed,  and  the  colder  snow  thy  covering.  I  would 
that  they  were  mine.  I  will  lie  down  by  thy  side.  I 
will  sleep  once  more  with  you.  If  no  one  discovers  me, 
I  shall  soon  be  as  cold  as  thou  art,  and  together  we  will 
sleep  that  long,  long  sleep  from  which  I  cannot  wake 
thee.  Me  choonkshee !  me  choonkshee  !" 

A  Dahkotah  obtains  his  wives  (for  they  are  polyga- 
mists)  not  by  courtship,  but  by  a  practice  as  old  as  the 
book  of  Genesis,  that  of  purchase.  A  young  man,  when 
he  wants  a  wife,  announces  the  fact,  and  begs  his  friends 
to  give  him  an  outfit.  He  then  proceeds  to  the  parents 
and  makes  a  purchase.  The  ancestors  of  some  of  the 
first  families  of  Virginia,  purchased  their  wives  from  the 
London  company,  for  one  hundred  and  twenty  or  fifty 
pounds  of  tobacco,  at  three  shilHngs  a  pound,  but  a 
Dahkotah  pays  a  higher  price  for  the  article,  and  takes 
more.  Usually  they  pay  a  horse,  or  four  or  five  guns, 
or  six  or  eight  blankets,  a  value  equal  to  thirty  or  forty 
dollars. 

The  chief  of  the  Kaposia  band  has  three  wives,  who 
are  sisters.  His  second  wife  he  purchased  of  her  father 
while  he  was  drunk,  and  she  but  ten  years  of  age.  It 
is  said  that  a  friend  throws  a  blanket  over  the  bride  and 
bears  her  to  the  lodge  of  the  purchaser.  Though  a  son- 
in-law  lives  near  the  parents  of  his  wife,  he  never  names 
or  talks  to  them,  and  never  looks  his  wife's  mother  in 
the  face.  He  thinks  it  is  respectful  to  act  in  this 
manner.  He  occujDies  a  large  lodge,  while  his  wife's 
parents  frequently  live  in  a  small  one,  in  the  rear, 
whom  he  supplies  with  game  until  he  has  a  family  of 
his  own.  Should  the  parents  accidentally  meet  him, 
they  hide  their  faces.     If  the  mother  starts  for   the 


THE  WOODPECKER  CHARM.— DRESS.  73 

daughter's  lodge  and  perceives  her  husband  mside,  she 
does  not  enter. 

If  a  woman  proves  faithless  to  her  husband,  she  is 
frequentlj'  shot  or  has  her  nose  cut  off.  This  latter 
practice  was  noticed  by  Le  Sueur,  in  1700.  There  is 
much  system  in  relation  to  the  place  in  which  each 
should  sit  in  a  Dahkotah  lodge.  The  ^vife  always  occu- 
pies a  place  next  to  the  entrance  on  the  right.  The 
seat  of  honour,  to  which  a  white  man  is  generally 
pointed,  is  directly  opposite  to  the  door  of  the  lodge. 

Like  the  rest  of  mankind,  they  are  by  no  means 
insensible  to  flattery.  When  one  thinks  that  he  cannot 
obtain  a  horse,  or  some  other  article  that  he  wishes, 
by  a  simple  request,  he  will  take  a  number  of  wood- 
peckers' heads,  and  sing  over  them  in  the  presence  of 
the  individual  he  hopes  to  influence,  recounting  the 
honourable  deeds  of  the  man  to  whom  he  gives  the 
birds'  heads.  This  process  acts  like  a  charm,  and  is 
often  successful. 

A  Parisian  dandy  is  known  the  world  over,  but  he  is 
not  to  be  compared  with  a  Dahkotah  fop.  An  Indian 
young  man  passes  hours  in  attiring  himself  That  green 
streak  of  paint  upon  the  cheek ;  those  yellow  circles 
around  the  eyes,  and  those  spots  upon  the  forehead, 
have  cost  him  much  trouble  and  frequent  gaziugs  into 
his  mirror,  which  he  always  keeps  with  him.  That 
head-dress,  which  appears  to  hang  so  carelessly,  is  all 
designed.  None  knows  better  than  he  how  to  attitudi- 
nize and  play  the  stoic  or  majestic.  No  moustachioed 
clerk,  with  curling  locks,  and  kid  gloves,  and  cambric 
handkercliief,  and  patent-leather  boots,  and  glossy  hat, 
is  half  so  conscious  as  he  who  struts  past  us  with  his 
streaming  blanket  and  ornamented  and  uncovered  head, 


74  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

holding  a  pipe  or  a  gun  in  the  place  of  a  cane,  and 
wearing  moccasins  in  the  place  of  boots.  The  rain 
upon  his  nicely  decorated  head  and  face,  causes  as 
much  of  a  flutter  as  it  does  when  it  falls  upon  the  hat 
of  the  nice  young  man  who  smokes  his  cigar  and  pro- 
menades in  Broadway. 

When  the  Dahkotahs  are  not  busy  with  war,  or  the 
chase,  or  the  feasts  and  dances  of  their  religion,  time 
hangs  heavily,  and  they  either  sleep  or  resort  to  some 
game  to  keep  up  an  excitement.  One  of  their  games  is 
like  "  Hunt  the  SUpper ;"  a  bullet  or  plum-stone  is 
placed  by  one  party  in  one  of  four  moccasins  or  mittens, 
and  sought  for  by  the  opposite.  There  is  also  the  play 
of  "plum-stones."  At  this  game  much  is  often  lost 
and  won.  Eight  plum-stones  are  marked  with  certain 
devices.  This  game  is  played  by  young  men  and 
females.  If,  after  shaking  in  a  bowl,  stones  bearing 
certain  devices  turn  up,  the  game  is  won. 

The  favourite  and  most  exciting  game  of  the  Dahko- 
tahs is  ball  playmg.  It  appears  to  be  nothing  more  than 
a  game  which  was  often  plaj'ed  by  the  ^vriter  in  school- 
boy days,  and  which  was  called  "  shinny ."  A  smooth 
place  is  chosen  on  the  prairie  or  frozen  river  or  lake. 
Each  player  has  a  stick  three  or  four  feet  long  and 
crooked  at  the  lower  end,  with  deer  strings  tied  across 
forming  a  sort  of  a  pocket.  The  ball  is  made  of  a 
rounded  knot  of  wood,  or  clay  covered  with  hide,  and 
is  supposed  to  possess  supernatural  qualities.  Stakes 
are  set  at  a  distance  of  a  quarter  or  half  mile,  as  bounds. 
Two  parties  are  then  formed,  and  the  ball  being  thrown 
up  in  the  centre,  the  contest  is  for  one  party  to  carry  the 
ball  from  the  other  beyond  one  of  the  bounds.  Two  or 
three  hundred  men  are  sometimes  engaged  at  once.    On 


FOOT  RACING.— DOG  AND  FISH  DANCES.  75 

a  summer's  day,  to  see  them  rushing  to  and  fro,  painted 
in  divers  colors,  with  no  article  of  apparel,  with  feathers 
m  their  heads,  bells  around  their  wrists,  and  fox  and 
wolf  tails  dangling  behind,  is  a  wild  and  noisy  spectacle. 
The  eye-witnesses  among  the  Indians  become  more 
interested  in  the  success  of  one  or  the  other  of  the  par- 
ties than  any  crowd  at  a  horse  race,  and  frequently 
stake  their  last  piece  of  property  on  the  issue  of  the 
game. 

On  the  13th  of  July,  1852,  the  last  great  ball-play  in 
the  vicinity  of  Saint  Paul  took  place.  The  ground 
selected  was  Oak  Grove,  in  Hennepin  county,  and  the 
parties  were,  Shokpay's  band,  against  the  Good  Road, 
Sky  Man,  and  Gray  Iron  bands.  The  game  lasted 
several  days ;  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  were  parti- 
cipants, encompassed  by  a  cloud  of  witnesses.  About 
two  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  property  was  won  by 
Shokpay's  band  the  first  day.  The  second  day  they 
were  the  losers.  On  the  third  day  Shokpay  lost  the 
first  game,  and  the  stake  was  renewed.  Shokpay  lost 
again;  but  while  a  new  stake  was  being  made  up,  a 
dispute  arose  between  the  parties  concerning  some  of 
the  property  which  had  been  won  from  Shokpay's  band, 
but  which  they  kept  back.  They  broke  up  in  a  row, 
as  they  usually  do.  Gray  Iron's  band  leaving  the 
ground  first,  ostensibly  for  the  reason  above  named,  but 
really  because  Shokpay's  band  had  just  been  reinforced 
by  the  arrival  of  «,  company  from  Little  Crow's  band. 
During  the  play  four  or  five  thousand  dollars'  worth  of 
goods  changed  hands. 

Like  the  ancient  Greeks,  they  also  practise  foot  racing. 
Before  proceeding  to  other  topics,  it  is  well  to  give  a 
brief  account  of  the  dog  dance  and  the  fish  dance.    The 


76  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

first  is  seldom  performed,  and  is  said  to  be  peculiar  to 
this  nation.  A  dog  being  thrown  into  the  midst  of  the 
crowd  of  dancers,  is  speedily  "  tomahawked"  by  one  of 
the  sacred  men.  The  liver  is  then  extracted  and  cut 
into  slices,  after  which  it  is  hung  upon  a  pole.  Now 
the  dancers  hop  around,  their  mouths  apparently  water- 
ing with  the  desire  for  a  bite.  After  a  time  some  one 
dances  up  to  the  pole  and  takes  a  mouthful  of  the  raw 
liver.  He  is  then  succeeded  by  others,  until  the  whole 
is  devoured.  If  another  dog  is  thrown  into  the  circle, 
the  same  process  is  repeated. 

"  Not  long  smce  a  Dahkotah  chief  was  sick,  and  the 
gods  signified  to  him  that  if  he  would  make  a  raw 
fish  feast,  he  would  live  till  young  cranes'  wings  are 
grown.  So  he  must  make  the  feast  or  die.  Fifteen  or 
twenty  others,  who,  like  himself,  were  inspired  by  the 
cormorant,  joined  with  him  in  the  ceremonies  of  the 
feast,  of  which  the  chief  was  master. 

"  After  one  or  two  days  spent  in  '  vapour  baths'  and 
'  armour  feasts,'  a  tent  is  prepared,  openmg  towards  the 
east.  The  railing  extending  from  the  tent  is  composed  of 
bushes.  Within  the  enclosure  each  of  those  who  are  to 
participate  in  the  feast  has  a  bush  set,  in  which  is  his 
nest.  Early  in  the  morning,  on  the  day  of  the  feast, 
the  master  informs  two  others  where  the  fish  are  to  be 
taken,  and  sends  them  forth  to  spear  and  bring  them 
in,  designating  the  kind  and  number  to  be  taken.  On 
this  occasion  two  pike,  each  about  one  foot  in  length, 
were  taken,  and  after  having  been  painted  wdth  vermil- 
lion  and  ornamented  with  red  down  about  the  mouth 
and  along  the  back,  were  laid  on  some  branches  in  the 
enclosure,  entire,  as  they  were  taken  from  the  water. 
Near  the  fish  were  placed  birch-bark  dishes  filled  with 


CORMORANT  DANCE.  77 

sweetened  water.  Their  implements  of  war  were  sol- 
emnly exhibited  in  the  tent,  and  the  dancers,  w^ho  were 
naked,  except  the  belt,  breech-cloth,  and  moccasins,  and 
fantastically  painted  and  adorned  with  down,  red  and 
white,  being  in  readiness,  the  singers,  of  whom  there  are 
four  ranks,  commenced  to  sing,  each  rank  in  its  turn. 
The  singing  was  accompanied  with  the  drum  and  rattle. 

"  The  cormorant  dancers  danced  to  the  music,  having 
a  little  season  of  rest  as  each  rank  of  singers  ended 
their  chant,  until  the  fourth  rank  struck  the  drum  and 
made  the  welkm  ring  with  their  wild  notes ;  then,  like 
starving  beasts,  they  tore  off  pieces  of  the  fish,  scales, 
bones,  entrails,  and  all,  with  their  teeth,  and  swallowed 
it,  at  the  same  time  drinking  their  sweetened  water, 
till  both  the  pike  were  consumed,  except  the  heads  and 
fins  and  large  bones,  the  latter  of  which  were  deposited 
in  the  nests.  Thus  the  feast  ended,  and  the  chief  will 
of  course  live  till  the  young  cranes  can  fly.  At  the 
close  of  the  ceremony,  whatever  of  clothing  is  worn  on 
the  occasion  is  offered  in  sacrifice  to  the  gods." 

Sufficient  has  been  said  to  show  that  the  Dahkotahs 
are  Odd  Felloivs;  but  not  the  half  has  been  told. 
Among  the  Ojibways  there  are  totems,  or  family  sym- 
bols, of  the  name  of  some  ancestor,  which  is  honoured 
as  much  as  the  coat  of  arms  among  the  nobility  of  Eu- 
rope. If  a  man  dies,  his  totem  is  marked  upon  his 
grave  post  with  as  much  formality  as  the  heraldic 
design  of  an  English  nobleman.  It  was  this  custom 
among  the  Algonquin  Indians,  that  led  the  unscrupu- 
lous La  Hontan  to  publish  engravings  of  the  fabulous 
coats  of  arms  of  the  various  savage  nations  of  the  north- 
west. That  of  the  "  Outchipoues"  (Ojibways)  is  an 
eagle  perched  upon  a  rock,  devouring  the  brain  of  an 


78  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

owl.  That  of  the  Sioux,  or  Dahkotahs,  is  a  squirrel 
perched  upon  a  citron  or  pumpkin,  and  gnawing  its 
rind.  While  the  Dahkotahs  do  not  appear  to  have 
totems  or  family  designs,  like  the  Ojibways,  yet,  from 
time  unmemorial,  secret  clans,  with  secret  signs,  have 
existed  among  them.  It  is  impossible  to  force  any 
member  of  these  clans  to  divulge  any  of  their  proceed- 
ings. Culbertson,  who  visited  the  Dahkotahs  of  the 
Missouri,  at  the  request  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution, 
was  struck  with  this  peculiarity.  His  remarks,  for  the 
entire  accuracy  of  which  we  do  not  vouch,  are  as  fol- 
lows : — 

"  The  Sioux  nation  has  no  general  council,  but  each 
tribe  and  band  determines  its  own  affairs.  These  bands 
have  some  ties  of  interest  analogous  to  the  ties  of  our 
secret  societies.  The  '  Crow-Feather-in-Cap'  band  are 
pledged  to  protect  each  others'  wives,  and  to  refrain 
from  violating  them.  If  the  wife  of  one  of  their  num- 
ber is  stolen  by  another  of  their  number,  she  is  returned, 
the  band  either  paying  the  thief  for  returning  the  stolen 
property,  or  forcmg  him  to  do  it,  whether  he  will  or 
not.  *  =^=  *  *  *  The  'Strong-Heart'  band  is 
pledged  to  protect  each  other  in  their  horses.  Should 
a  '  Strong-Heart'  from  a  distance  steal  some  horses,  and 
they  be  claimed  by  a  brother  '  Strong-Heart,'  his  fellows 
Vv^ould  tell  him  that  he  must  give  them  up,  or  they 
would  give  the  robbed  man  some  of  their  own  horses, 
regarding  it  as  the  greatest  disgrace  to  themselves  to 
allow  him  to  go  away  on  foot.  And  thus  I  suppose 
that  all  these  bands  have  some  common  object  that 
unites  them  together,  and  here  we  have  the  origin  of 
this  system  of  banding.  In  the  absence  of  law,  it 
takes  the  place  of  our  system  of  justice." 


WANT  OF  CLEANLINESS.  79 

The  heathen,  in  their  manner  of  life,  are  essentially 
the  same  all  over  the  world.  They  are  all  given  up  to 
uncleanness.  As  you  walk  through  a  small  village,  in 
a  Christian  land,  3'ou  notice  many  appearances  of  thrift 
and  neatness.  The  day-labourer  has  his  lot  fenced,  and 
his  rude  cabin  white-washed.  The  widow,  dependent 
upon  her  own  exertions,  and  alone  in  the  world,  finds 
pleasure  in  training  the  honeysuckle  or  the  morning- 
glory  to  peep  in  at  her  windows.  The  poor  seamstress, 
though  obliged  to  lodge  in  some  upper  room,  has  a  few 
flower-pots  upon  her  window-sill,  and  perhaps  a  canary 
bird  hung  in  a  cage  outside.  But  in  an  Indian  village 
all  is  filtli  and  litter.  There  are  no  fences  around  their 
bark  huts.  White-washing  is  a  lost  art  if  it  was  ever 
known.  Worn-out  moccasins,  tattered  blankets,  old 
breech-cloths,  and  pieces'  of  leggins  are  strewn  in  con- 
fusion all  over  the  ground.  Water,  except  in  very  warm 
weather,  seldom  touches  their  bodies,  and  the  pores  of 
their  skins  become  filled  with  grease  and  the  paint  with 
which  they  daub  themselves.  Neither  Monday,  or  any 
other  day,  is  kno^vn  as  washing-day.  Their  cooking 
utensils  are  incrusted  with  dirt,  and  used  for  a  variety  of 
purposes.  A  few  years  ago,  a  band  of  Indians,  with  their 
dogs,  ponies,  women,  and  children,  came  on  board  of  a 
steamboat  on  the  Upper  Mississippi,  on  which  the 
writer  was  travelling.  Their  evening  meal,  consisting 
of  beans  and  wild  meat,  was  prepared  on  the  lower 
deck,  beneath  the  windows  of  the  ladies'  cabin.  After 
they  had  used  their  fingers  in  the  place  of  forks,  and 
consumed  the  food  which  they  had  cooked  in  a  dirty 
iron  pan,  one  of  the  mothers,  removing  the  blanket 
from  one  of  her  children,  stood  it  up  in  the  same  pan, 
and  then,  dipping  some  water  out  of  the  river,  began  to 


80  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

wash  it  from  head  to  foot.  The  rest  of  the  band  looked 
on  Avith  Indian  composure,  and  seemed  to  think  that 
an  iron  stew-pan  was  just  as  good  for  washing  babes  as 
for  cooking  beans.  Where  there  is  so  much  dirt,  of 
course  vermin  must  abound.  They  are  not  much  dis- 
tressed by  the  presence  of  those  insects  which  are  so 
nauseating  to  the  civihzed  man.  Being  without  shame, 
a  common  sight,  of  a  summer's  eve,  is  a  woman  or  child 
with  her  head  in  another's  lap,  who  is  kindly  killing 
the  fleas  and  other  vermin  that  are  burrowing  in  the 
long,  matted,  and  uncombed  hair. 

The  Dahkotahs  have  no  regular  time  for  eating. 
Dependent,  as  they  are,  upon  hunting  and  fishing  for 
subsistence,  they  vacillate  from  the  proximity  of  star- 
vation to  gluttony.  It  is  considered  uncourteous  to 
refuse  an  invitation  to  a  feast,  and  a  single  man  will 
sometimes  attend  six  or  seven  in  a  day,  and  eat  intem- 
perately.  Before  they  came  m  contact  with  the  whites, 
they  subsisted  upon  venison,  buffalo,  and  dog  meat. 
The  latter  animal  has  always  been  considered  a  deli- 
cacy by  these  epicures.  In  illustration  of  these  remarks, 
I  transcribe  an  extract  from  a  journal  of  a  missionary, 
who  visited  Lake  Traverse  in  April,  1839  : — 

"  Last  evening,  at  dark,  our  Indians  chiefly  returned, 
having  eaten  to  the  full  of  buffalo  and  dog  meat.  I  asked 
one  how  many  times  they  were  feasted.  He  said,  '  Six, 
and  if  it  had  not  become  dark  so  soon,  we  should  have 
been  called  three  or  four  times  more.'  *  *  *  This 
morning,  'Burning-Earth'  (chief  of  the  Sissetonwan 
Dahkotahs),  came  again  to  our  encampment,  and  re- 
moving we  accompanied  him  to  his  village  at  the  south- 
western end  of  the  lake.  *  *  *  In  the  afternoon, 
I  visited  the  chief;  found  him  just  about  to  leave  for 


IRREGULAR  MODE  OF  LIFE.  81 

a  dog  feast  to  which  he  had  been  called.  When  he  had 
received  some  papers  of  medicine  I  had  for  him,  he  left, 
saying,  '  The  Sioux  love  dog  meat  as  well  as  white 
people  do  pork.' " 

In  this  connection,  it  should  be  stated  that  the  Dah- 
kotalis  have  no  regular  hours  of  retiring.  Enter  a  New 
England  village  after  nine  o'clock,  and  all  is  still.  Walk 
through  Philadelphia  after  the  State  House  clock  has 
struck  eleven,  and  everybody  and  thing,  hacks,  hack- 
men,  and  those  on  foot,  appear  to  be  hastening  to  rest; 
the  lamp  ui  the  store,  the  entry  and  parlour,  is  extin- 
guished, and  lights  begin  to  flicker  in  the  chambers  and 
in  the  garrets,  and  soon  all  are  quiet,  except  rogues  and 
disorderly  persons,  and  those  who  watch ;  and  you  can 
hear  the  clock  tick  in  the  entry,  and  the  Avatchman's 
slow  step  as  he  walks  up  and  down  the  street.  But 
there  is  nothing  like  this  in  an  Indian  village.  They 
sleep  whenever  inclination  prompts ;  some  by  day  and 
some  by  night. 

If  you  were  to  enter  a  Dahkotah  village,  at  midnight, 
you  might,  perhaps,  see  some  few  huddled  round  the 
fire  of  a  teepee,  listening  to  the  tale  of  an  old  warrior, 
who  has  often  engaged  in  bloodj-  conflict  with  their 
ancient  and  present  enemies,  the  Ojibways;  or  you 
might  hear  the  unearthly  chanting  of  some  medicine 
man,  endeavouring  to  exorcise  some  spirit  from  a  sick 
man  ;  or  see  some  lounging  about,  whiffing  out  of  their 
sacred  red  stone  pipes,  the  smoke  of  kinnikinnick,  a 
species  of  willow  bark ;  or  some  of  the  young  men 
sneaking  around  a  lodge,  and  waiting  for  the  lodge-fire 
to  cease  to  flicker  before  they  perpetrate  some  deed  of 
sin  ;  or  you  might  hear  a  low,  wild  drunnning,  and  then 
a  group  of  men,  all  naked,  with  the  exception  of  a 


82  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

girdle  round  the  loins,  daubed  Avitli  vermillion  and 
other  paints,  all  excited,  and  engaged  in  some  of  their 
grotesque  dances ;  or  a  portion  may  be  firing  their  guns 
into  the  air,  being  alarmed  by  some  imaginary  evil,  and 
supposuig  that  an  enemy  is  lurking  around. 


CHAPTER   III. 


Dahkotah  females  deserve  the  sympathy  of  every 
tender  heart.  From  early  childhood  they  lead  "  worse 
than  a  dog's  life."  Like  the  Gibeonites  of  old,  they  are 
the  hewers  of  wood,  and  the  drawers  of  water  for  the 
camp.  On  a  winter's  day,  a  Dahkotah  mother  is  often 
obliged  to  travel  five  or  eight  or  ten  miles  with  the 
lodge,  camp-kettle,  axe,  child,  and  small  dogs  upon  her 
back.  Arrivmg  late  in  the  afternoon  at  the  appointed 
camping-ground,  she  clears  off  the  snow  from  the  spot 
upon  which  she  is  to  erect  the  teepee.  She  then,  from 
the  nearest  marsh  or  grove,  cuts  down  some  poles  about 
ten  feet  in  length.  With  these  she  forms  a  frame  work 
for  the  tent.  Unstrapping  her  pack,  she  unfolds  the 
tent-cover,  which  is  seven  or  eight  buffalo  skins  stitched 
together,  and  brings  the  bottom  part  to  the  base  of  the 
frame.  She  now  obtains  a  long  jDole,  and  fastening  it 
to  the  skia  covering,  she  raises  it.  The  ends  are  drawn 
around  the  frame  until  they  meet,  and  the  edges  of  the 
covering  are  secured  by  wooden  skewers  or  tent  pins. 
The  poles  are  then  spread  out  on  the  ground,  so  as  to 
make  as  large  a  circle  inside  as  she  desires.     Then  she. 


THE  HARDSHIPS  OF  DAHKOTAH  FEMALES.  83 

or  her  children,  proceed  to  draw  the  skms  down  so  as  to 
make  them  fit  tightly.  An  opening  is  left  where  the 
poles  meet  at  the  top,  to  allow  the  smoke  to  escape. 
The  fire  is  built  upon  the  ground  in  the  centre  of  the 
lodge.  Buffalo  skins  are  placed  around,  and  from  seven 
to  fifteen  lodge  there  through  a  winter's  night,  with  fiir 
more  comfort  than  a  child  of  luxury  upon  a  bed  of 
down.  Water  is  to  be  drawn  and  Avood  cut  for  the 
night.  The  camp-kettle  is  suspended,  and  preparations 
made  for  the  evening  meal.  If  her  lord  and  master  has 
not  b}'  this  time  arrived  from  the  day's  hunt,  she  is 
busied  in  mending  up  moccasins.  Such  is  a  scene  which 
has  been  enacted  by  hundreds  of  females  this  verj^  winter 
in  Minnesota.  How  few  of  the  gentle  sex  properly  ap- 
preciate the  everlasting  obligations  they  are  under  to 
the  Son  of  Mary,  after  the  flesh,  who  was  the  first  that 
taught  the  true  sphere  and  the  true  mission  of  woman  ! 
The  Dahkotah  wife  is  subject  to  all  of  the  whims  of 
her  husband,  and  woe  unto  her  when  he  is  in  bad 
humour !  As  a  consequence,  the  females  of  this  nation 
are  not  possessed  of  very  happy  faces,  and  frequently 
resort  to  suicide  to  put  an  end  to  earthly  troubles. 
Uncultivated,  and  made  to  do  the  labour  of  beasts,  when 
they  are  desperate,  they  act  more  like  infuriated  brutes 
than  creatures  of  reason.  Some  years  ago  a  lodge  was 
pitched  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Croix.  The  wife,  fear- 
ing her  husband  would  demand  the  whiskey  keg,  when 
he  came  from  hunting,  hid  it.  Upon  his  return,  she 
refused  to  tell  him  where  it  was,  and  he  flogged  her. 
In  her  rage,  she  went  oft'  and  hinig  herself.  At  Oak 
Grove,  a  little  girl,  the  pet  of  her  grandmother,  was 
whipped  by  her  father.  The  old  woman,  sympathizing 
with  tlie  child,  flew  into  a  passion  i\m\  went  off.     At 


84  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

last,  the  screaining  of  the  grandchild  was  heard,  for  she 
had  discovered  her  ^"  grandma' "  hanging  by  a  portage 
collar  from  a  burial  scaffold.  An  assistant  female 
teacher  in  the  mission  school,  being  attracted  by  the 
noise,  went  and  cut  the  "  old  granny"  down  before  life 
had  fled.  On  another  occasion,  at  the  same  place,  a 
son-in-law  refused  to  give  his  mother  some  whiskey,  and 
in  a  rage  she  went  on  to  the  burial  scaffold,  tied  the 
portage  strap  around  her  neck,  and  was  about  to  jump 
off,  when  Mr.  Pond  came  up  to  her  and  cut  the  strap. 
Still  she  did  not  relinquish  her  intention  of  suicide.  At 
last,  he  climbed  on  to  the  scaffold  and  told  her  he  would 
stay  there  as  long  as  she.  Other  females  from  the 
village  then  came  out,  and  succeeded  in  persuading  her 
to  live  a  little  while  longer.  In  this  connexion,  an 
incident  may  be  told,  which,  for  romantic  interest,  can- 
not be  surpassed.  The  girl,  since  the  occurrence,  which 
we  substantially  narrate  as  we  find  it  in  the  "  Pioneer," 
without  being  responsible  for  every  particular,  be- 
came a  pupil  in  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hancock's  mission  school 
at  Remnica  or  Red  Wing  Village. 

In  the  spring  of  1850,  a  young  girl,  fourteen  years  of 
age,  shot  another  girl  with  whom  she  was  quarrelling. 
The  deceased  was  a  daughter  of  a  sullen  man  by  the 
name  of  Black  Whistle.  The  affrighted  girl,  after  she 
fired  the  gun,  fled  to  the  trader's  house,  and  was  by  him 
aided  to  make  her  escape  down  to  Wapashaw's  village. 
While  stopjDing  at  Red  Wing's  village,  some  hundred 
miles  from  the  place  where  the  deed  was  committed,  the 
incensed  father  overtook  her.  His  first  plan  was  to 
carry  her  home  and  sacrifice  her  at  his  daughter's  burial 
scaffold;  but,  through  the  influence  of  some  of  the 
whites,  he  changed  his  plan,  and  resolved  to  make  her 


THE  DISGUISED  GIRL.— WANT  OF  LAW.  85 

liis  slave  or  his  wife.  For  some  time  she  endured  what 
to  her  was  a  Kviiig  death,  but  on  one  night  she  suddenly 
disappeared.  Not  many  days  after,  there  appeared  at 
Good  Koad's  village,  a  young  Indian  boy,  stating  that 
he  was  a  Sisseton,  and  had  just  arrived  from  the  plains. 
He  was  well  received,  no  one  dreaming  that  he  was  the 
Indian  maid.  While  in  this  disguise,  she  went  out  one 
day  to  spear  fish,  when  her  husband  and  eneni}',  the 
revengeful  father  of  the  girl  she  had  shot,  met  her,  and 
inquired  for  her,  and  avowed  his  intention  to  kill  her. 
She  very  coolly  assented  to  the  justice  of  what  he  said, 
and  left.  At  last,  her  real  sex  being  suspected,  she 
came  down  to  Little  Crow  or  Kaposia  village.  Here 
she  passed  herself  off  as  a  Winnebago  orphan,  which 
disguise  succeeded  for  a  time.  But  soon  she  was  sus- 
pected, and  was  again  obliged  to  seek  safety  in  flight, 
and  at  last  took  up  her  residence  at  Red  Wing's  village, 
though  for  a  long  time  no  one  knew  what  had  become 
of  her. 

It  is  an  erroneous  idea  that  chiefs  have  any  authority. 
Popularity  is  the  source  of  power,  and  they  resort  to 
measures  which  vie  with  those  of  the  modern  dema- 
gogue, to  gain  the  ear  of  the  people.  They  never 
express  an  opinion  on  any  important  point,  until  they 
have  canvassed  the  band  over  which  they  preside,  and 
their  opinions  are  always  those  of  the  majorit}^ 

The  Dahkotahs  suffer  much  for  want  of  law.  The 
individual  who  desires  to  improve  his  condition  is  not 
only  laughed  at,  but  maltreated.  Moreover,  if  he  ac- 
quires any  property,  there  is  no  law  which  secures  it  to 
him,  and  it  is  liable  to  be  taken  away  at  anj^  time  by 
any  ill-disposed  person.  Until  this  state  of  things  is 
altered  by  the  interposition  of  the  United  States  govern- 


86  IIISTORV  OF  MINNESOTA. 

meut,  or  the  interposition  of  Providence  in  some  unfore- 
seen way,  there  is  little  hope  of  elevating  this  tribe. 
Their  missionary  will  be  forced  to  look  upon  this  degra- 
dation, and  say,  in  view  thereof,  "  My  whole  head  is 
sick,  my  whole  heart  faint." 

The  sujDerstitions  and  peculiarities  of  the  Dahkotahs 
are  so  various  that  we  can  but  barely  glance  at  them. 
They  count  years  by  winters,  and  compute  distances  by 
the  number  of  nights  passed  upon  a  journey;  their 
months  are  computed  by  moons,  and  are  as  follows : — 

1.  Wi-TERi,  January ;  the  hard  moon. 

2.  WiCATA-wi,  February ;  the  raccoon  moon. 

3.  ISTAWiCATAZAN-wi,  March;  the  sore-eye  moon. 

4.  Magaokadi-wi,  April;  the  moon  in  which  the 
geese  lay  eggs :  also  called  Wokada-wi ;  and,  sometimes, 
Watopapi-wi,  the  moon  when  the  streams  are  again 
navigable. 

5.  WoJUPi-wi,  May ;  the  plantmg  moon. 

6.  Wajustecasa-wi,  June;  the  moon  when  the  straw- 
berries are  red. 

7.  Canpasapa-wi,  and  Wasunpa-wi,  July ;  the  moon 
when  the  choke-cherries  are  ripe,  and  when  the  geese 
shed  their  feathers. 

8.  Wasuton-wi,  August;  the  harvest  moon. 

9.  Psixhnaketu-wi,  Septemher ;  the  moon  when  rice 
is  laid  up  to  dry. 

10.  Wi-WAJUPi,  October;  the  drying  rice  moon;  some- 
times written  Wazupi-wi. 

11.  Takiyura-wi,  November;  the  deer-rutting  moon. 

12.  Tahecapsun-wi,  December ;  the  moon  when  the 
deer  shed  their  horns. 

They  believe  that  the  moon  is  made  of  something  as 
good  as  green-cheese.    The  popular  notion  is  that  when 


RELIGIOUS  RITES  AND  SUPERSTITIONS.  87 

the  moon  is  full,  a  great  number  of  very  small  mice 
commence  nibbling  until  tliej  have  eaten  it  up.  A  new 
moon  then  begins  to  grow  until  it  is  full,  then  it  is 
devoured. 

Though  almost  every  Dahkotah  young  man  has  his 
pocket  mirror,  a  maid  does  not  look  at  a  looking-glass, 
for  it  is  "  wakan"  or  sacred.  Almost  everything  that 
the  man  owns  is  wakan  or  sacred,  but  nothing  that  the 
woman  possesses  is  so  esteemed.  If  one  has  a  toothache, 
it  is  supposed  to  be  caused  by  a  woodpecker  concealed 
within,  or  the  gnawing  of  a  worm.  Coughs  are  occa- 
sioned by  the  sacred  men  operating  through  the  medium 
of  the  down  of  the  goose,  or  the  hair  of  the  buffalo.  It 
is  considered  a  sin  to  cut  a  stick  that  has  once  been 
placed  on  the  fire,  or  to  prick  a  piece  of  meat  with  an 
awl  or  needle.  It  is  wrong  for  a  woman  to  smoke 
through  a  black  j)ipe-stem,  and  for  a  man  to  wear  a 
woman's  moccasins.  It  is  also  sinful  to  throw  gun- 
powder on  the  fire. 

This  tribe  of  Indians  believe  that  an  individual  has 
several  souls.  Le  Sueur  said  that  they  thought  that 
thej'  had  three  souls,  but  the  sacred  men  say  that  a 
Dahkotah  has  four  souls.  At  death  one  of  these  re- 
mains with  or  near  the  body ;  one  in  a  bundle  contain- 
ing some  of  the  clothes  and  hair  of  the  deceased,  which 
the  relatives  preserve  until  they  have  an  opportunity 
to  throw  them  into  the  enemy's  country;  one  goes  into 
the  spirit  land ;  and  one  passes  into  the  body  of  a  child 
or  some  animal. 

They  have  a  fear  of  the  future,  but  no  fixed  belief  in 
relation  to  the  nature  of  future  punishment.  They  are 
generally  taciturn  on  such  topics.  The  more  simple- 
minded  believe  that  a  happy  land  exists  across  a  lake 


88  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

of  boiling  water,  and  that  an  old  woman  sits  on  the 
shore  holding  a  long  narrow  pole,  that  stretches  across 
the  water  to  the  earth.  Warriors  who  can  show  marks 
of  wounds  on  their  flesh,  can  walk  the  pole  with 
security;  also  infants,  whose  blue  veins  are  a  passport 
as  good  as  war  marks.  Others  slip  into  the  boiling 
water. 

Their  theology  makes  no  difference  between  the  con- 
dition of  the  thief  and  liar  and  the  correct  and  good 
man.  Those  who  commit  suicide  are  thought  to  be 
unhappy.  They  believe  that  a  woman  who  commits 
suicide  will  have  to  drag  through  another  world  that 
from  which  she  hung  herself  in  this,  and  that  she  will 
often  break  down  the  corn  in  another  land  by  the  pole 
or  tree  which  dangles  at  her  feet,  and  for  this  Vvdll  be 
severely  beaten  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  spirit  land. 

When  any  one  dies,  the  nearest  friend  is  very  anxious 
to  go  and  kill  an  enemy.  A  father  lost  a  child  while 
the  treaty  of  1851  was  pending  at  Mendota,  and  he 
longed  to  go  and  kill  an  Ojibway.  As  soon  as  an  indi- 
vidual dies,  the  corpse  is  wrapped  in  its  best  clothes. 
Some  one  acquainted  with  the  deceased  then  harangues 
the  spirit  on  the  virtues  of  the  departed  ;  and  the  friends 
sit  around  with  their  faces  smeared  with  a  black  pig- 
ment, the  signs  of  mourning.  Their  lamentations  are 
very  loud,  and  they  cut  their  thighs  and  legs  Avith 
their  finger  nails  or  pieces  of  stone,  to  give  free  ^ent,  as 
it  would  appear,  to  their  grief  The  corpse  is  not 
buried,  but  placed  in  a  box  upon  a  scaffold  some  eight 
or  ten  feet  from  the  ground.  Hung  around  the  scaffold 
are  such  things  as  would  please  the  spirit  if  it  was  still 
in  the  flesh — such  as  the  scalp  of  an  enemy  or  pots  of 
food.      After  the  corpse  has  been  exposed   for   some 


SCHILLER'S  POEM.— BULWER,  HERSCHELL. 


89 


months,  and  the  bones  only  remain,  the}-  are  buried  in 
a  heap,  and  protected  from  the  wolves  by  stakes. 

On  the  bluff,  above  the  dilapidated  cave  which  forms 
the  eastern  limit  of  Saint  Paul,  there  is  an  ancient 
burial  place.  Here  the  Dahkotahs  formerly  brought 
their  dead,  and  performed  solemn  services. 

Carver,  in  his  Travels,  publishes  the  alleged  speech 
over  the  remains  of  a  Dahkotah  brave — the  reading  of 
which  so  attracted  the  attention  of  the  great  German 
poet,  Schiller,  that  he  composed  a  poem  called  the 
"  Song  of  a  Nadowessee  Chief"  Goethe  considered  it 
one  of  his  best,  "  and  wished  he  had  made  a  dozen 
such." 

Sir  John  Herschell  and  Sir  E.  L.  Bulwer  have  each 
attempted  a  translation,  both  of  which  seem  to  convey 
the  spirit  of  the  original. 


SIR  E.  L.   BULWER  S. 

Sec  on  his  mat — as  if  of  yore, 

All  life-like  sits  he  here! 
With  that  same  aspect  which  he  wore 

When  light  to  him  was  dear. 

But  where  the  riglit  hand's  strength  ?  and  where 
The  breath  that  loved  to  breathe, 

To  the  Great  Spirit  aloft  iu  air, 
The  peace-pipe's  lusty  wreath  f 

And  where  the  hawk-like  eye,  nlas! 

That  wont  the  deer  pursue, 
Along  the  waves  of  rippling  grass, 

Or  fields  that  shone  with  dew  ? 

Are  these  the  limber,  bounding  feet 

That  swept  the  winter's  snows? 
What  stateliest  stag  so  fast  and  fleet? 

Their  speed  outstripped  the  roe's  I 

These  arms,  that  then  the  steady  bow 

Could  supple  from  its  pride, 
How  stark  and  helpless  hang  they  now 

Adown  the  stiGTuned  side! 


SIR  JOHN  HERSCHELL  S, 

See,  where  upon  the  mat,  he  sits 

Erect,  before  his  door, 
With  just  the  same  majestic  air 

That  once  iu  life  he  wore. 

But  where  is  fled  his  strength  of  limb, 

The  whirlwind  of  his  breath, 
To  the  Great  Spirit,  when  he  sent 

The  peace-pipe's  mounting  wreath? 

Where  are  those  falcon  eyes,  whitli  late 

Along  the  plain  could  tr!u;e. 
Along  the  grass's  dewy  wave. 

The  reindeer's  printed  pace? 

Those  legs,  which  once,  with  niafchless  speed, 

Flew  through  the  drift«d  snow, 
Surpus.sed  the  stag's  unwearied  cour.se. 

Outran  the  mountain  roe? 

Those  arms,  once  used  with  might  and  main, 

The  stubborn  bow  to  twang? 
See.  see,  their  ner»'es  nn-  sl.irk  at  last, 

All  motionless  they  hung. 


90 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


SIR  E.  L.  BULfl^ER  S. 

Yet  woal  to  him — at  peace  he  stays 

Where  never  fall  the  snows; 
Where  o'er  the  meadows  springs  the  maize 

That  mortal  never  sows. 

■Where  birds  .are  blithe  on  every  brake — 
Where  forests  teem  with  deer— 

Wliere  glide  the  fi<;h  through  every  lake — 
One  chase  from  year  to  year  I 

With  spirits  now  he  feasts  above; 

All  left  us — to  revere 
The  deeds  we  honour  with  our  love, 

The  dust  we  bury  here. 

Here  bring  the  last  gift!  loud  and  shrill 
Wail,  death  dirge  for  the  brave! 

What  pleased  him  most  in  life  may  still 
Give  pleasure  in  the  grave. 

We  lay  the  axe  beneath  his  head 
He  swung  when  strength  was  strong — 

The  bear  on  which  his  banquets  fed — 
The  way  from  earth  is  long! 

And  here,  new  sharped,  place  the  knife 

That  severed  from  the  clay, 
From  which  the  axe  had  spoiled  the  life, 

The  conquered  scalp  away ! 

The  paints  that  deck  the  dead  bestow — 
Yes,  place  them  in  his  hand — 

That  red  the  kingly  shade  may  glow 
Amid  the  spirit-land. 


SIR  JOUX  HERSCnEI-L  S. 

'Tis  well  with  him,  for  he  is  gone 

Where  snow  no  more  is  found, 
Where  the  gay  thorn's  perpetual  bloom 

Decks  all  the  field  around; 

Where  wild  birds  sing  from  every  spray, 

Where  deer  come  sweeping  by. 
Where  fish  from  every  lake,  afford 

A  plentiful  supply. 

With  .<;pirits  now  he  feasts  above, 

And  leaves  us  here  alone, 
To  celebrate  his  valiant  deeds, 

And  round  his  grave  to  moan. 

Sound  the  death-song,  bring  forth  the  gifts, 

The  last  gifts  of  the  dead,— 
Let  all  which  yet  may  yield  him  joy 

Within  his  gr.ive  be  laid. 

The  hatchet  place  beneath  his  head, 

Still  red  with  hostile  blood  ; 
And  add,  because  the  way  is  long, 

The  bear's  fat  limbs  for  food. 

The  scalpingknife  beside  him  lay. 

With  paints  of  gorgeous  dye, 
That  in  the  land  of  souls  his  form 

May  shine  triumphantly. 


The  legends  of  the  Dahkotahs  are  numerous,  and 
while  many  are  puerile,  a  few  are  beautiful. 

Eagle-Eye,  the  son  of  a  great  war  prophet,  who  lived 
more  than  one  hundred  years  ago,  was  distinguished  for 
bravery.  Fleet,  athletic,  symmetrical,  a  bitter  foe  and 
warm  friend,  he  was  a  model  Dahkotah.  In  the  ardour 
of  his  youth,  his  affections  were  given  to  one  who  was 
also  attractive,  named  Scarlet  Dove. 

A  few  moons  after  she  had  become  an  inmate  of  his 
lodge,  they  descended  the  Mississippi,  with  a  hunting 
party,  and  proceeded  east  of  Lake  Pepin. 


SCARLET  DOVE.— ANPETUSAPA.  91 

One  day,  while  Eagle-Eye  was  hid  behind  some 
bushes,  watching  for  deer,  the  arrow  of  a  comrade 
found  its  way  through  the  covert,  into  his  heart.  With 
only  time  to  lisp  the  name  Scarlet  Dove,  he  expired. 

For  a  few  days  the  widow  mourned  and  cut  her  flesh, 
and  then,  with  the  silence  of  woe,  wrapping  her  beloved 
in  skins,  she  placed  him  on  a  temporary  burial  scaffold, 
and  sat  beneath. 

When  the  hunting  party  moved,  she  carried  on  her 
own  back  the  dead  body  of  Eagle-Eye.  At  every  en- 
campment she  laid  the  body  up  in  the  manner  already 
mentioned,  and  sat  down  to  watch  it  and  mourn. 

When  she  had  reached  the  Minnesota  river,  a  dis- 
tance of  more  than  a  hundred  miles.  Scarlet  Dove 
brought  forks  and  poles  from  the  woods,  and  erected  a 
permanent  scaffold  on  that  beautiful  hill  opposite  the 
site  of  Fort  Snelling,  in  the  rear  of  the  httle  town  of 
Mendota,  which  is  known  by  the  name  of  Pilot  Knob. 
Having  adjusted  the  remains  of  the  unfortunate  object 
of  her  love  upon  this  elevation,  with  the  strap  by  which 
she  had  carried  her  precious  burden.  Scarlet  Dove  hung 
herself  to  the  scaffold  and  died.  Her  highest  hope  was 
to  meet  the  beloved  spirit  of  her  Eagle-Eye,  in  the  world 
of  spirits.^ 

Many  years  before  the  eye  of  the  white  man  gazed 
on  the  beautiful  landscape  around  the  Falls  of  Saint 
Anthony,  a  scene  was  enacted  there  of  which  this  is  the 
melancholy  story : — 

Anpetusapa  was  the  first  love  of  a  Dahkotah  hunter. 
For  a  period  they  dwelt  in  happiness,  and  she  proved 
herself  a  true  wife. 

*  For  this  legend  we  are  indebted  to  Rev.  G.  II.  Pond. 


92  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

"  "With  knife  of  bone  she  carved  her  food, 
Fuel,  with  axe  of  stone  procured — 
Could  fire  extract,  from  flint  or  wood ; 
To  rudest  savage  life  inured. 

"In  kettle  frail  of  birchen  bark, 

She  boiled  her  food  with  heated  stones ; 
The  slippery  fish  from  coverts  dark 
She  drew  with  hooked  bones." 


But  her  heart  was  at  length  clouded.  The  husband, 
in  accordance  with  the  custom  of  his  nation,  introduced 
a  second  wife  "vvithin  the  teepee,  and  the  first  wife's  eyes 
began  to  grow  sad,  and  her  form  from  day  to  day 
drooped.  Her  chief  joy  was  to  clasp  the  Httle  boy, 
vvdio  was  the  embodiment  of  hopes  and  happiness  fled 
for  ever.  Faithful  and  unmurmuring,  she  followed  her 
husband  on  his  hunts.  One  day  the  band  encamped  on 
the  picturesque  shores  near  the  Falls  of  Saint  Anthony. 
With  tearless  eye,  and  nerved  by  despair,  the  first  wife, 
Avitli  her  little  son,  walked  to  the  rapid  waters.  Enter- 
ing a  canoe,  she  pushed  into  the  swift  current,  and  the 
chantinfi;  of  her  death  diro:e  arrested  the  attention  of 
her  husband  and  the  camp  in  time  to  see  the  canoe  on 
the  bank,  and  plunge  into  t^ie  dashing  waves.  The 
Dahkotahs  say,  that  in  the  mist  of  the  morning,  the 
spirit  of  an  Indian  wife,  with  a  child  clinging  around 
her  neck,  is  seen  darting  in  a  canoe  through  the  spray, 
and  that  the  sound  of  her  death-song  is  heard  moaning 
in  the  winds,  and  in  the  roar  of  the  waters. 

On  the  eastern  shore  of  Lake  Pepin,  about  twelve 
miles  from  its  mouth,  there  stands  a  blufi"  which  attracts 
attention  by  its  boldness.  It  is  about  four  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  in  height,  the  last  hundred  of  which  is  a  bald, 
precipitous  crag.     It  is  seen  at  a  distance  of  miles ;  and 


MAIDEN'S  ROCK  OF  THE  DAHKOTAHS.  93 

as  the  steamer  approaches,  the  emergence  of  passengers 
to  the  upper  deck,  and  the  pomting  of  the  finger  of  the 
captain,  or  some  one  familiar  with  the  country,  evinces 
that  it  is  an  interesting  locaUty — it  is  the  Maiden's 
Rock  of  the  Dahkotahs. 

The  first  version  of  the  story,  in  connection  with  this 
bluff,  differs  from  those  more  modern,  but  is  preferable. 

In  the  days  of  the  great  chief  Wapashaw,  there  lived 
at  the  village  of  Keoxa,  which  stood  on  the  site  of  the 
town  which  now  bears  her  name,  a  maiden  with  a  lov- 
ing soul.  She  was  the  first-born  daughter,  and,  as  is 
always  the  case  in  a  Dahkotah  family,  she  bore  the 
name  of  Weenonah.  A  young  hunter  of  the  same  band, 
was  never  happier  than  when  he  played  the  flute  in  her 
hearing.  Having  thus  signified  his  affection,  it  was 
with  the  whole  heart  reciprocated.  The  youth  begged 
from  his  friends  all  that  he  could,  and  went  to  her 
parents,  as  is  the  custom,  to  purchase  her  for  his  wife, 
but  his  proposals  were  rejected. 

A  warrior,  who  had  often  been  on  the  war  path, 
whose  head-dress  plainh^  told  the  number  of  scalps  he 
had  wrenched  from  Ojibway  heads,  had  also  been  to  the 
parents,  and  they  thought  that  she  would  be  more 
honoured  as  an  inmate  of  his  teepee. 

Weenonah,  however,  could  not  forget  her  first  love ; 
and,  though  he  had  Ijeen  forced  away,  his  absence 
strengthened  her  affections.  Neither  the  attentions  of 
the  warrior,  nor  the  threats  of  parents,  nor  the  persua- 
sions of  friends,  could  make  her  consent  to  marry  simply 
for  position. 

One  day  the  band  came  to  Lake  Pepin  to  fish  or 
hunt.  The  dark  green  foliage,  the  velvet  sward,  the 
beautiful  expanse  of  water,  the  shady  nooks,  made  it  a 


94  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

place  to  utter  the  breathings  of  love.  The  warrior 
sought  her  once  more,  and  begged  her  to  accede  to  her 
parents'  wish,  and  become  his  wife,  but  she  refused  with 
decision. 

While  the  party  w^ere  feasting,  Weenonah  clambered 
to  the  lofty  bluff,  and  then  told  to  those  wdio  were 
below,  how  crushed  she  had  been  by  the  absence  of  the 
young  hunter,  and  the  cruelty  of  her  friends.  Then 
chanting  a  wild  death-song,  before  the  fleetest  runner 
could  reach  the  height,  she  dashed  herself  down,  and 
that  form  of  beauty  was  in  a  moment  a  mass  of  broken 
limbs  and  bruised  flesh. 

The  Dahkotah,  as  he  passes  the  rock,  feels  that  the 
spot  is  Wawkawn. 

The  Dahkotahs  call  the  St.  Croix  river,  Hogan- 
wanke-kin.  The  legend  is  that  in  the  distant  past, 
two  Dahkotah  warriors  were  travelling  on  the  shores  of 
Lake  St.  Croix,  one  of  whom  was  under  a  vow  to  one 
of  his  gods  not  to  eat  any  flesh  which  had  touched 
water.  Gnawed  by  hunger,  the  two  perceived,  as  they 
supposed,  a  raccoon,  and  pursued  it  to  a  hollow  tree. 
On  looking  in,  the  one  who  could  not  eat  flesh  that  had 
touched  water,  saw  that  the  animal  was  a  fish  and  not 
a  quadruped.  Turning  to  his  companion,  he  agreed  to 
throw  it  to  the  ground  if  he  was  not  urged  to  eat. 
Hunger,  however,  was  imperious,  and  forced  him  to 
break  his  vow  and  partake  of  the  broiled  fish. 

After  the  meal,  thirst  usurped  the  place  of  hunger. 
He  called  for  water  to  cool  his  parched  tongue,  until 
the  streng'th  of  his  companion  failed,  and  he  was  then 
told  to  lie  down  by  the  lake  and  drink  till  his  thirst 
was  quenched.  Complying  with  the  advice,  he  drank 
and  drank,  till  at  last  he  cried  to  his  friend,  "  come  and 


LANGUAGE  AND  LEXICON.  95 

look  at  me."  The  sight  caused  the  knees  of  his  comrade 
to  smite  together  with  fear,  for  he  was  fast  turning  to  a 
fish.  At  length,  he  stretched  himself  across  the  Lake, 
and  formed  what  is  called  Pike  Bar.  This,  tradition 
says,  is  the  origin  of  the  sand-bar  in  the  Lake,  which  is 
so  conspicuous  at  low  stage  of  water. 

Having  full  faith  in  the  legend,  to  this  day  they  call 
the  river,  which  is  part  of  the  boundary'  between  Wis- 
consin and  Minnesota,  "  the  place  where  the  fish 
LIES."     (Hogan-w^anke-kin.) 

The  Dahkotahs,  from  the  Minnesota  to  the  plains 
l)e3'ond  the  Missouri,  speak  essentially  the  same  lan- 
guage. Though  difficult  to  acquire,  it  is  allied  to  that 
of  the  Ottoes,  Winnebagoes,  To  ways,  and  Omahaws.' 

After  ten  years'  close  study  by  an  observing  mis- 
sionary, he  was  obliged  to  confess  that  he  had  not 
mastered  it,  which  admission  forms  quite  a  contrast 
to  the  vaunting  statement  of  Jonathan  Carver,  who 
wintered  in  Minnesota  in  1767.  He  remarks:  "To 
render  my  stay  as  comfortable  as  possible,  I  first  endea- 
voured to  learn  their  language.  This  I  soon  did,  to 
make  myself  perfectly  intelligible." 

Hennepin  made  the  first  eftbrt  to  collect  a  vocabulary 
of  the  language,  while  he  was  a  captive  on  Eum  river, 
or  Mille  Lacs.  His  description  of  the  attempt  is  very 
quaint :  "  Hunger  pressed  me  to  commence  the  forma- 
tion of  a  vocabulary  of  their  language,  learned  from 

'  The  ancient  Arkansas  seem  to  (Minne    ska)     or    White    Water." 

liave    belonged     to    the    Dahkotah  Again :  "  They  place  the  hand  upon 

family.    A  letter  puLlished  in  Kip's  tlie  mouth,  which  is  a  sign  of  admi- 

Jesuit   Mission,  written   by  a  mis-  ration  among  them."   Ouakan  tague 

sionary  at  the  mouth  of  the  Arkan-  they  cry  out,  "  it  is  the  Great  Spirit." 

sas,  in  October,  1727,  speaks  of  "  a  They  said  probably,  Wakan  de,  This 

river  which  the  Indians  call  Ni  ska  is  wonderful. 


96  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

the  prattle  of  their  children.  When  once  I  had  learned 
the  word  Taketchiabein,  which  means  '  IIow  call  you 
this  ?'  I  began  to  be  soon  able  to  talk  of  such  things 
as  are  most  familiar.  For  want  of  an  interpreter  this 
difficulty  was  hard  to  surmount  at  first.  For  example, 
if  I  had  a  desire  to  know  what  to  run  was  in  their 
tongue,  I  was  forced  to  increase  my  speed,  and  actually 
run  from  one  end  of  the  lodge  to  the  other,  until  they 
-understood  what  I  meant  and  had  told  me  the  word, 
which  I  presently  set  down  in  my  Dictionary." 

The  first  printed  vocabulary  is  that  appended  to 
Carver's  Travels,  which  is  exceedingly  incorrect,  though 
it  contains  many  Dahkotah  words.  The  Smithsonian 
Institution  have  published,  under  the  patronage  of  the 
Historical  Society  of  Minnesota,  a  quarto  Grammar  and 
Dictionary  of  this  language,  which  will  be  gazed  upon 
with  interest  by  the  "  wise  men  of  the  East"  long  after 
the  Dahkotah  dialect  has  ceased  to  be  spoken.  This 
work  is  the  fruit  of  eighteen  years  of  anxious  toil 
among  this  people,  and  is  the  combined  work  of  the 
members  of  the  Dahkotah  Presbytery,  edited  by  the 
Kev.  S.  R.  Riggs,  of  Lac  qui  Parle ;  and  should  be  pre- 
served in  the  library  of  every  professional  man  and 
lover  of  letters  in  Minnesota. 

The  vocabulary  is,  of  course,  meagre,  compared  with 
that  of  the  civilized  European ;  for  living,  as  they  have 
until  of  late,  far  away  from  any  but  those  of  like  habits 
and  modes  of  thought,  they  are  defective  in  many  words 
which  have  their  place  in  the  dictionary  of  a  Christian 
people.  Accustomed  to  cut  poles  from  a  forest  and 
spread  buffalo  skins  thereon,  under  which  they  pass  the 
night,  and  then  decamp  early  the  next  day  in  quest  of 
game  or  the  scalp  of  an  enemy,  they  have  no  word  which 


DAHKOTAH  ALPHABET.  97 

expresses  the  comfortable  idea  of  our  noble  Saxon  word 
"  home."  Still,  in  the  language  of  a  missionary,  "  it  is 
in  some  of  its  aspects  to  be  regarded  as  a  noble  lan- 
guage, fully  adequate  to  all  the  felt  wants  of  a  nation, 
and  capable  of  being  enlarged,  cultivated,  and  enriched, 
by  the  introduction  of  foreign  stores  of  thought.  Nothing 
can  be  found  anywhere  more  full  and  flexible  than  the 
Dahkotah  verb.  The  affixes,  and  reduplications,  and 
pronouns,  and  prepositions,  all  come  in  to  make  it  of 
such  a  stately  pile  of  thought  as  is  to  my  knowledge 
found  nowhere  else.  A  single  paradigm  presents  more 
than  a  thousand  variations." 

THE  DAHKOTAH  ALPHABET. 

NAME  NAME. 

A   ah,  sounds  as  a  in  far.  0  o,        sounds  as  o    in  go. 

B   be,  "         h  in  but.  P  pe,             "         p    in  pea. 

C    che,  "         ch  in  cheat.  Q  qe,  indescribable. 

D   de,  "         d  in  deed.  R  re,  high  guttural. 

E   a,  "         a  in  say.  S  se,      sounds  as  s    in  sea. 

G  ge,  low  guttural.  T  te,  "         t    in  tea. 

H  he,  sounds  as  h  in  he.  U  oo,             "         oo  in  noon. 

I    e,  "         e  in  see.  "W  we,             "         lo  in  we. 

J  je,  "         si  in  hosier.  X  she,           "         sh  in  sheet. 

K  ke,  "         k  in  key.  Y  ye,             "         y  in  yeast. 

M  me,  "         TO  in  me.  Z  ze,              "         z    in  zeta. 

N  ne,  "         n  in  neat. 

The  vowels  represent  each  but  one  sound.  G  repre- 
sents a  low  guttural  or  gurgling  sound.  B,  represents 
a  rough  hawking  sound,  higher  than  that  of  g.  Besides 
their  simple  sounds,  c,  h,  p,  s,  t,  and  x,  have  each  a  close 
compound  sound,  which  cannot  be  learned  except  from 
a  living  teacher.  They  are  printed  in  italics  when  they 
represent  these  sounds,  except  k,  which  is  never  italicised 
for  this  purpose ;  Ijut  q  is  used  instead  of  it.     The  last- 

7 


98  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

named  letter  might  as  well,  perhaps,  be  expunged  from 
the  Dalikotah  alphabet,  and  k  held  responsible  for  the 
perfonnance  of  this  service.  When  n  follows  a  vowel 
at  the  end  of  a  syllable,  except  in  contracted  words, 
with  very  fcAv  exceptions,  it  is  not  full,  but  sounds  like 
n  in  tinkle,  ankle. 

It  was  intended  that  the  Dahkotah  orthography  should 
be  strictly  phonetic,  and  it  fails  but  little  of  bemg  so.  To 
learn  the  names  of  the  letters  is  to  learn  to  read  it,  and 
no  English  scholar  need  spend  more  than  a  few  hours, 
or  even  a  few  moments,  in  learning  to  read  the  Dahko- 
tah language.* 

1  G.  H.  Pond,  in  "  Tawaxitku  Kin." 


CARTIER.— CHAMPLAIN.  99 


CHAPTER    IV. 

More  than  three  centuries  ago,  an  enterprising  naval 
officer,  Jacques  Cartier,  discovered  the  mouth  of  the 
great  river  of  North  America,  that  empties  into  the 
Atlantic,  and  whose  extreme  head  waters  are  in  the 
interior  of  Minnesota,  within  an  hour's  walk  of  a  tribu- 
tary of  the  Mississij)pi. 

Having  erected,  in  the  vicinity  of  Quebec,  a  rude  fort, 
in  1541,  more  than  a  half  century  before  the  settlement 
of  Jamestown,  in  Virginia,  from  that  time  the  river 
Saint  Lawrence  became  known  to  the  bold  mariners  of 
France,  and  there  was  an  increasing  desire  to  explore 
its  sources. 

In  the  year  1608,  Champlain  selected  the  site  in  the 
vicinity  of  Cartier's  post  as  the  future  capital  of  New 
France.  Burning  to  plant  a  colony  in  the  New  World, 
lie,  with  great  assiduit}',  explored  the  country.  In  1609 
he  ascended  a  tributary  of  the  Saint  Lawrence,  till  he 
came  to  the  beautiful  lake  in  New  York,  which,  to  this 
day,  bears  his  name. 

After  several  visits  to  France,  in  1615  he  is  found, 
v/ith  unabated  zeal,  accompanying  a  band  of  savages 
to  their  distant  hunting-grounds,  and  discovering  the 
waters  of  Lake  Huron. 


100  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

Before  the  emigrants  of  the  "  May  Flower"  trod  on 
New  England  soil,  and  while  Massachusetts  was  an 
unknown  countrj^  to  the  geographers  of  Europe,  he  had 
gained  an  inkling  of  the  Mediterranean  of  America,  Lake 
Superior,  In  a  map  accompanying  the  journal  of  his  dis- 
coveries;, this  lake  appears  as  "  Grand  Lac,"  and  a  great 
river  is  marked  flowing  from  the  lake  toward  the  south, 
intended  to  represent  the  Mississippi,  as  described  by 
the  Indians,  who,  from  the  earliest  period,  had  been 
accustomed,  b}^  slight  portages,  to  pass  from  the  waters 
of  Lake  Superior  into  those  of  the  "  grand"  river  which 
flows  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

About  the  time  that  Champlain  returned  from  his 
expedition  to  the  Huron  count  rj^,  there  arrived  in 
Canada  a  youth  from  France  of  more  than  ordinar}' 
promise,  who,  by  his  aptness  in  the  acquisition  of  the 
Indian  dialects,  became  interpreter  and  commissary  of 
the  colony. 

Determined  to  press  beyond  others,  he,  in  1639, 
arrived  at  the  lake  of  the  Winnebagoes,  ui  the  present 
state  of  Wisconsin,  which  had  been  described  by  Cham- 
plain,  though  erroneously  located  on  the  map  accom- 
panying his  narrative. 

While  in  this  region  he  concluded  a  friendly  alliance 
with  the  Indians  in  the  valley  of  the  Fox  river. 

Paul  le  Jeune,  in  a  letter  to  his  superior,  Vimont, 
written  in  the  month  of  September,  1640,  alludes  to 
Nicolet,  and  is  also  the  first  writer  who  makes  distuict 
mention  of  the  Dahkotahs.  Speaking  of  the  tribes  on 
Lake  Michigan,  the  father  remarks  : — 

"  Still  further  on,  dwell  the  Ouinipegou  (Winnebago), 
a  sedentary  people  and  very  numerous.  Some  French- 
men call  them  the  '  Nation  of  Stinkers,'  because  the 


TRADERS  PIONEERS  FOR  THE  PRIESTS.  101 

Algonquin  word  Ouinipeg  signifies  stinking  water.  They 
thus  designate  the  water  of  the  sea,  and  these  people 
call  themselves  Ouinipegou,  because  they  come  from 
the  shores  of  a  sea,  of  which  we  have  no  knowledge, 
and  therefore  we  must  not  call  them  the  nation  of 

•  Stinkers,'  but  the  nation  of  the  sea. 

"  In  the  neighbourhood  of  this  nation  are  the  Nadou- 
essi  (Dahkotahs),  and  the  Assinipouars  ( Assiniboines) . 

*  =^  =''  *  *  I  will  say,  by  the  way,  that  the  Sieur 
Nicolet,  interpreter  of  the  Algonquin  and  Huron  lan- 
guages for  '  Messieurs  de  la  Nouvelle  France,'  has  given 
me  the  names  of  these  nations,  whom  he  has  visited, 
for  the  most  part,  in  their  own  countries." 

Two  3'ears  elapse,  and,  in  1641,  Jogues  and  Raym- 
bault,  of  the  "  Society  of  Jesus,"  after  a  journe}'  of 
seventeen  days,  in  frail  barks,  over  tempestuous  waters, 
arrive  at  the  barrier  of  rocks  at  the  entrance  of  Lake 
Superior ;  and  then,  at  Sault  St.  Marie,  met  the  Potto- 
wattomies  flying  from  the  Dahkotahs,  and  were  told 
that  the  latter  lived  to  the  west  of  the  Falls,  about 
eighteen  days'  journey,  the  first  nine  across  the  lake, 
the  other  up  a  river  which  leads  inland,  referring,  pro- 
bably, to  the  stream  which  interlocks  with  the  head 
waters  of  the  river  Saint  Croix. 

"We  would  not  detract  from  the  zeal  of  the  man  of 
God,  but  it  is  a  fact  that  those  in  the  service  of  mam- 
mon have  ever  outrun  those  in  the  service  of  Chrif^t. 
The  "  insacra  fames  auri,"  the  unholy  thirst  for  gold, 
has  always  made  the  trader  the  pioneer  of  the  mis- 
sionary in  savage  lands. 

In  a  communication  made  as  early  as  1G54,  it  was 
stated  that  it  was  only  nine  days'  journey  from  the 
Lake  of  the  Winnebago  (Green  Ba^)  to  the  sea  that 


102  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

separates  America  from  China;  and,  that,  if  a  person 
could  be  found  who  would  send  thirty  Frenchmen  into 
that  country,  they  w^ould  obtain  the  finest  peltries  and 
amass  wealth. 

This  year  two  adventurous  Frenchmen  went  to  seek 
their  fortunes  in  the  region  west  of  Lake  Michigan; 
and,  in  August,  1656,  with  a  flotilla  of  canoes,  laden 
with  treasures,  and  two  hundred  and  fifty  Ojibways, 
they  arrived  at  Quebec,  and  interested  "voyageurs" 
with  a  recital  of  their  hair-breadth  escapes — merchants 
wdth  their  packs  of  valuable  furs,  and  ecclesiastics  with 
narrations  of  the  miserable  condition  of  immortal  souls, 
and  of  the  numerous  villages  of  the  "  Nadouesiouack" 
(Dahkotahs)  and  other  tribes. 

Thirty  young  Frenchmen,  excited  by  the  reports, 
equipped  themselves  to  trade  with  the  lodges  in  the 
distant  wilderness ;  and,  two  Fathers,  Leonard  Garreau 
and  Gabriel  Dreuilletes,  were  summoned  by  their  Supe- 
rior to  return  with  the  brigade,  and  were  rejoiced  to 
find  themselves  chosen  to  be  the  first  to  carry  the  name 
of  Jesus  Christ  into  a  country  alike  replete  with  tribu- 
lation, darkness,  and  death. 

The  latter  missionary  had  been  a  visiter  to  the  house 
of  the  Puritan  minister,  Eliot,  in  the  vicinity  of  Boston, 
and  they  had  frequently  taken  sweet  counsel  together  in 
relation  to  the  amelioration  of  the  condition  of  the  abo- 
rigines. 

This  expedition  failed  to  reach  its  destination,  owing 
to  a  murderous  attack  of  the  Iroquois,  in  which  Gar- 
reau was  killed,  and  the  Ojibways  so  alarmed  that  they 
refused  to  receive  the  surviving  "  black  robe." 

In  the  year  1659  two  traders  travelled  extensively 
among  the  distant  tribes.    Six!  days'  journey  south-west 


GROSELLIER'S  JOURNEY  TO  HUDSON'  BAY,  BY  LAND.       103 

of  La  Pointe,  now  Bai'field,  Wisconsin,  they  found  vil- 
lages of  Hiirons,  who,  retreating  across  rocky  ridges, 
over  deep  streams,  wide  lakes,  and  dense  thickets,  had 
reached  the  shores  of  the  Mississippi,  and  found  a  shelter 
among  the  Dahkotahs  from  the  fierce  onslaught  of  the 
Iroquois.  In  the  vicinity  of  the  Hurons  they  saw  Dah- 
kotah  settlements,  "  in  five  of  which  were  counted  all 
of  five  thousand  men."  They  noticed  women  with  the 
tips  of  their  noses  cut  off,  and  heads  partly  scalped,  and 
were  informed  that  this  was  the  penalty  inflicted  upon 
adulteresses. 

They  also  heard  of  "  another  warlike  nation  who,  with 
their  bows  and  arrows,  have  rendered  themselves  as 
formidable  to  the  upper  Algonquins  as  the  Iroquois  have 
to  the  lower.  They  bear  the  name  of  Poualak  (Assine- 
boine),  that  is  to  say,  the  warriors."  Continues  the  rela- 
tion : — "  As  wood  is  scarce  and  very  small  with  them, 
nature  has  taught  them  to  burn  stones  in  place  of  it, 
and  to  cover  their  wigwams  with  skins.  Some  of  the 
most  industrious  among  them  have  built  mud  cabins 
nearly  in  the  same  manner  that  swallows  build  their 
nests ;  nor  would  they  sleep  less  sweetly  beneath  these 
skins,  or  under  this  clay,  than  the  great  ones  of  earth 
beneath  their  golden  canopies,  was  it  not  for  the  fear  of 
the  Iroquois,  who  come  here  in  search  of  them  from  a 
distance  of  five  or  six  hundred  leagues." 

On  the  early  French  maps  of  Lake  Superior,  a  tribu- 
tary from  Minnesota  is  called  the  River  Grosellier.^     It 

*  Grosellier  was  a  native  of  Tou-  Quebec.     Returning  by  Lake  Supe- 

raine,  and  married  Helen,  daughter  rior,  he  offered  to  carry  French  ships 

of  Abraham  Martin,  King's   Pilot,  to  Hudson's  Bay.     Rejected  by  the 

who  has  left  his  name  to  the  cele-  court,  he  crossed  over  to  England, 

brated    plains   of   Abraham,    near  vrherc  his  offers  were  accepted.  With 


104  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

appears  to  have  been  named  after  a  French  pilot  who, 
about  this  time,  roamed  uito  the  Assiniboine  country,  in 
the  region  of  Lake  Winnepeg,  and  was  conducted  by 
them  to  the  shores  of  Hudson's  Bay. 

During  the  summer  of  1660  the  traders  of  the  far 
West  returned  to  Quebec  with  sixty  canoes,  manned  by 
Algonquins,  and  laden  with  fox,  beaver,  and  Ijuffalo  skins. 
The  narrative  of  these  men  increased  the  existing  enthu- 
siasm of  the  Jesuits,  and  the  Superior  at  Quebec  had  a 
zeal  wdiich  "  caused  him  to  wish  that  he  might  be  an 
angel  of  glad  tidings  to  the  far  nations;  and,  at  the 
expense  of  a  thousand  lives,  to  go  and  search  in  the 
depths  of  the  forest  the  lost  sheep  for  whose  welfare  he 
had  crossed  the  sea." 

The  murder  of  Garreau,  four  years  before,  did  not 
intimidate,  but  his  blood  increased  the  courage  of  the 
church,  and  Eene  Menard  was  the  one  selected  to  be 
the  cross-bearer  to  the  barbarians  in  the  regions  round 
about  Lake  Superior. 

His  hair  whitened  by  age,  his  mind  ripened  by  long 
experience,  and  acquainted  with  the  peculiarities  of 
Lidian  character,  he  seemed  the  man  for  the  mission. 

The  night  before  he  started,  the  eyes  of  the  venerable 
priest  were  not  closed.  He  thought  much  of  his  friends, 
and,  knowing  that  he  was  about  to  go  into  a  land  of 
barbarians,  two  hours  after  midnight  he  penned  a  letter, 

Raddisson,  another  Frenchmen,  he  '  My  Reverend  Father— The  Peace 

piloted  an  English  vessel,  command-  of  Christ  be  with  you  : 

ed  by  Captain  Gillam,  a  Yankee,  to  I  write  to  you  'probably  the  last 

the  River  Nemiscau,  on  the  east  side  word,  which  I  hope  will  be  the  seal 

of  James  Bay,  where  Fort  Rupert  of   our    friendship    until    eternity, 

was  built.     See  O'Callaghan's  note.  Love  whom  the  Lord  Jesus  did  not 

vol.  ix.  p.  797,  Paris  Doc. :  Col.  His-  disdain  to  love,  though  the  greatest 

tory  of  New  York.  of  sinners,  for  he  loves  whom  he 


MENARD  AT  LAKE  SUPERIOR.  105 

touching  in  its  simplicity,  and  which  will  be  embalmed 
in  the  literature  of  the  future  dwellers  on  the  shores  of 
Lake  Superior. 

Earl}'  on  the  morning  of  the  28th  of  August,  1660, 
he,  m  company  with  eight  Frenchmen,  departed  with 
the  Ottawa  convoy  from  "  Three  Rivers."  After  much 
ridicule  from  the  wild  companions  of  his  voyage,  he 
arrived  at  a  bay  on  Lake  Superior,  on  the  15th  of 
October,  St.  Theresa's  day,  on  which  account  he  so 
designated  the  sheet  of  water. 

During  the  following  winter  the}'  remained  at  this 
point.  Their  supply  of  provisions  being  exhausted, 
they  nearly  starved.  '•  At  times  they  scraped  up  a  mess 
of  the  '  tripe  de  roche,'  which  slightly  thickened  their 
water,  foaming  upon  it  a  kind  of  foam  or  slime,  similar 
to  that  of  snails,  and  which  served  rather  to  nourish 
their  imagination  than  their  bodies :"  at  other  times  they 

loads  with    his    cross.      Let    your  have  been  a  little  surprised,  not  be- 

friendship,  my  good  fathei-,  be  use-  ing  able  to  provide  ourselves  with 

ful  to  me  by  the  desirable  fruits  of  vestments  and  other  things ;  but  he 

your   daily   sacrifice.     In   three   or  who  feeds  the  little  birds  and  clothes 

four  months,  you  may  remember  me  the  lilies  of  the  fields,  will  take  care 

at  the  memento  for  the  dead,  on  ac-  of  his  servants  ;  and  though  it  should 

count  of  my  old  age,  my  weak  con-  happen  we  should  die  with  want,  we 

stitution,  and  the  hardships  I  lay  would  esteem  ourselves   happy.     I 

under  amongst  these  tribes.    Never-  am  loaded  with  afi'airs.   What  I  can 

thclcss,  I  am  in  peace,  for  I  have  do  is  to  recommend  our  journey  to 

not  been  led  to  this  mission  by  any  your  daily  sacrifices,  and  to  embrace 

temporal  motive,  but  I  think  it  was  you  with  the  same    sentiments  of 

by  the  voice  of  God.     I  was  afraid,  heart,  as  I  hope  to  do  in  eternity, 

by  not  coming   here,  to  resist  the  My  reverend   father,   yoar   most 

grace  of  God.  Paternal  i-emorse  would  humble  and  affectionate  servant  in 

have  tormented  mb,  had  I  not  come  Jesus  Christ, 

when  I  had  the  opportunity.     We  E.  Menard. 

From  the  Three  Rivers,  this  'i 
27th  August,  2  o'clock  [■ 
after  midnight,  1060.  J 


106  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

subsisted  on  pounded  fish-bones  and  acorns.  When 
the  vernal  breezes  began  to  blow,  ducks,  geese,  and 
mid  pigeons  made  their  appearance,  and  their  bodies 
strengthened. 

The  refugee  Hurons,  at  La  Pointe,  hearing  that  a 
"  black  gown"  was  on  the  shores  of  the  lake,  invited 
him  to  visit  them. 

Menard  appointed  three  young  Frenchmen  to  act 
as  pioneers,  and  reconnoitre  the  country  and  make 
presents.  On  their  journey  their  canoe  was  stolen, 
and  after  many  difficulties  they  returned.  Their 
report  was  discouraging,  but  did  not  deter  the  aged 
enthusiast.  His  last  written  sentences,  penned  in  July, 
1661,  are : — 

"  I  hear  every  day  four  populous  nations  spoken  of, 
that  are  distant  from  here  about  two  or  three  hundred 
leagues.  I  expect  to  die  on  my  way  to  them ;  but  as  I 
am  so  far  advanced,  and  in  health,  I  shall  do  all  that  is 
possible  to  reach  them.  The  route,  most  of  the  way, 
lies  across  swamps,  through  which  it  is  necessary  to  feel 
your  way  in  passing,  and  to  be  in  danger  every  moment 
of  sinking  too  deep  to  extricate  yourself;  provisions 
which  can  only  be  obtained  by  carrying  them  with  you, 
and  the  mosquitoes,  whose  numbers  are  frightful,  are 
the  three  great  obstacles  which  render  it  difficult  for  me 
to  obtain  a  companion." 

Some  Hurons  having  come  to  treat  with  the  Ojibways, 
agreed  to  act  as  guides.  Selecting  John  Guerin,  a  faith- 
ful man,  as  his  companion,  he  started,  with  some  dried 
fish  and  smoked  meat  for  provisions.  The  Indians,  full 
of  caprice,  soon  moved  off,  and  left  the  priest  and  his 
friend  in  an  unknown  country.  Bruised  in  limb,  and 
faint  in  body,  on  the  10th  of  August,  Menard,  while 


DISAPPEARANCE  OF  MENARD.  107 

following  his  companion,  lost  himself  by  mistaking  the 
trail. 

The  agony  of  Guerin  is  great  when  he  looks  behind 
and  beholds  not  the  aged  traveller.  He  calls  at  the  top 
of  his  voice,  but  he  only  hears  the  echo.  He  fires  his 
gun  repeatedly,  to  lead  him  to  the  right  path ;  at  last 
he  wanders  to  a  Huron  village,  and,  by  gestures  and 
tears,  and  the  promise  of  reward,  induced  a  youth  to  go 
in  search.  He  soon  returned,  weary;  and  from  that 
day  there  have  been  no  traces  of  his  body. 

A  century  ago,  the  report  was  current  in  Canada, 
that,  some  years  after  his  disappearance,  his  robe  and 
prayer  book  were  found  in  a  Dahkotah  lodge,  and  were 
looked  upon  as  "  wawkawn"  or  supernatural. 

In  the  summer  of  1663  the  mournful  intelligence  of 
the  loss  of  Menard  reached  Quebec,  and  one  was  soon 
found  to  be  his  successor — Father  Claude  Allouez,  who 
anxiously  awaited  the  means  of  conveyance  to  his  scene 
of  labour.  In  the  year  1665  a  hundred-  canoes,  laden 
with  Indians  and  peltries,  arrived  at  Montreal  from 
Lake  Superior.  A  Frenchman,  who  accompanied  them, 
reported  that  the  Outaouaks  (Ojibways)  were  attacked 
on  one  side  by  the  Iroquois,  and  on  the  other  by  the 
Nadouessioux  (Dahkotahs),  a  warlike  people,  who 
carry  on  cruel  wars  with  nations  still  more  distant. 
Allouez  rejoiced  at  the  sight  of  the  frail  barks,  and 
greeted  the  besmeared  savages  as  if  they  were  visitants 
from  a  better  land.  In  a  letter  -vvritten  at  the  time,  his 
full  heart  thus  speaks  :  "  At  last  it  has  pleased  God  to 
send  us  the  angels  of  the  Upper  Algonquins  to  conduct 
us  to  their  country." 

On  the  8 til  of  August,  1665,  with  six  Frenchmen 


108  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

and  four  Imndred  savages,  returning  from  their  trading 
expedition,  he  embarked. 

Having  made  a  portage  at  Sault  St.  Marier,  on  the  2d 
of  September  their  birch  canoes  ghded  on  the  waters  of 
Lake  Superior.  On  the  1st  of  October  they  arrived  at 
the  Chegoimegon,  a  beautiful  bay  (Bayfield,  Wisconsin), 
where  were  two  large  villages,  one  of  which  was  occupied 
by  the  Hurons,  who  had  been  driven  from  the  Dahkotah 
country  under  the  following  circumstances  : — 

Having  claimed  superiority,  on  account  of  the  pos- 
session of  fire-arms,  they  taunted  the  Dahkotahs,  who 
had  received  them  when  they  were  outcasts  and  flying 
from  the  Iroquois,  on  account  of  their  simplicity.  At 
last,  provoked  beyond  endurance,  they  decoyed  a  num- 
ber of  Hurons  into  a  wild  rice  marsh,  and  killed  many 
with  their  primitive,  but  not  to  be  despised,  stone-tipped 
arrows,  and  drove  the  remnant  to  Chegoimegon. 

The  second  village  was  com]30sed  of  several  bands  of 
Ojibways,  whose  ancestors  had,  a  long  time  before,  lived 
east  of  Lake  Michigan,  but  had  been  driven  westward 
by  the  Iroquois. 

This  point  was  a  centre  of  trade  for  many  nations. 
Even  the  Illinois  came  here  to  fish  and  exchange  com- 
modities. 

Allouez,  when  he  landed  at  La  Pointe,  as  the  French 
named  the  place,  in  consequence  of  a  tongue-like  pro- 
jection of  land,  found  a  scene  of  great  confusion.  In 
the  language  of  Bancroft,  "  It  was  at  a  moment  when 
the  young  warriors  were  bent  on  a  strife  with  the  war- 
like Sioux.  A  grand  council  of  ten  or  twelve  neigh- 
l^ourins:  nations  was  held  to  wrest  the  hatchet  from  the 
hands  of  the  rash  braves,  and  Allouez  was  admitted  to 
an  audience  before  the  vast  assembly.     In  the  name  of 


ALLOUEZ  AT  LA  POINTE.  109 

Louis  XIV.  and  his  viceroy,  lie  commanded  peace,  and 
offered  commerce  and  alliance  against  the  Iroquois — 
the  soldiers  of  France  would  smooth  the  path  between 
the  Chippewas  and  Quebec — would  brush  the  pirate 
canoes  from  the  rivers — would  leave  to  the  Five  Nations 
no  choice,  but  between  tranquillity  and  destruction.  On 
the  shore  of  the  bay  to  which  the  abundant  fisheries  at- 
tracted crowds,  a  chapel  soon  rose,  and  the  mission  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  was  founded.  There  admiring  throngs,  who 
had  never  seen  an  European,  came  to  gaze  on  the  white 
man,  and  on  the  pictures  which  he  displayed  of  the 
realms  of  hell,  and  of  the  last  judgment.  There  a 
choir  of  Chippewas  were  taught  to  chant  the  pater  and 
the  ave.  *  *  *  *  The  Sacs  and  Foxes  travelled 
on  foot  from  their  country-,  which  abounded  in  deer, 
beaver,  and  buffalo.  The  Illinois  also,  a  hospitable 
race,  unaccustomed  to  canoes,  having  no  Aveapon  but 
the  bow  and  arrow,  came  to  rehearse  their  sorrows. 
*  *  ♦  *  :::  ♦  *  Curloslty  was  roused  by  their 
tale  of  the  noble  river  on  which  they  dwelt,  and  which 
flowed  toward  the  south.  Then,  too,  at  the  very  extre- 
mity of  the  lake,  the  missionary  met  the  wild  and 
impassioned  Sioux,  who  dwelt  to  the  west  of  Lake 
Superior,  in  a  land  of  prairies,  with  wild  rice  for  food, 
and  skins  of  beasts  instead  of  bark  for  roofs  to  their 
cabins,  on  the  bank  of  the  great  river,  of  which  Allouez 
reported  the  name  to  be  Messipi." 

While  on  an  excursion  to  Lake  Alempigon  (Saint 
Anne),  he  met,  at  Fond  du  Lac,  in  Minnesota,  some 
Dahkotah  warriors ;  and,  in  describing  them,  he  is  the 
first  to  give  the  name  of  the  great  river  of  which  the 
Indians  had  told  so  many  wonderful  stories. 


110  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

In  the  relations  of  the  mission  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
the  following  remarks  are  made  of  the  Dahkotahs : — 

"  This  is  a  tribe  that  dwells  to  the  west  of  this  (Fond 
du  Lac),  toward  the  great  river  called  Messipi.  They 
are  forty  or  fifty  leagues  from  here,  in  a  country  of 
prairies,  abounding  in  all  kinds  of  game.  They  have 
fields  in  which  they  do  not  sow  Indian  corn,  but  only 
tobacco.  Providence  has  provided  them  with  a  species 
of  marsh  rice,  which,  toward  the  end  of  summer,  they 
go  to  collect  in  certain  small  lakes  that  are  covered  with 
it.  They  know  how  to  prepare  it  so  well  that  it  is 
quite  agreeable  to  the  taste  and  nutritive.  They  pre- 
sented me  with  some  when  I  was  at  the  extremity  of 
Lake  Tracy  (Superior),  where  I  saw  them.  They  do 
not  use  the  gun,  but  only  the  bow  and  arrow,  which 
they  use  with  great  dexterity.  Their  cabins  are  not 
covered  with  bark,  but  with  deerskins  well  dried,  and 
stitched  together  so  well  that  the  cold  does  not  enter. 
These  people  are,  above  all  other,  savage  and  warlike. 
In  our  presence  they  seemed  abashed,  and  were  motion- 
less as  statues.  They  speak  a  language  entirely  unkno"\vn 
to  us,  and  the  savages  about  here  do  not  understand 
them." 

After  two  years  passed  among  the  Algonquins  at  La 
Pointe  and  vicinity,  AUouez  was  convinced  that  his 
mission  would  not  prosper,  unless  he  had  some  assist- 
ance. He  determined  to  go  in  person  to  Quebec,  and 
implore  labourers  for  the  field.  Arriving  there  on  the 
3d  day  of  August,  1667,  he  worked  night  and  day ;  and, 
after  two  days,  the  bow  of  his  canoe  was  again  turned 
towards  the  far  West.  His  party  consisted  at  first  of 
Father  Louis  Nicholas,  and  another  Jesuit,  with  four 
labourers;    but,  when   they  came   to   the  canoes,  the 


MARQUETTE'S  DESCRIPTION  OF  DAHKOTAHS.  Ill 

whimsical  savages  only  allowed  Allouez,  Nicholas,  and 
one  of  their  men,  to  enter.  But,  notwithstanding  the 
help  obtained,  the  savage  hearts  could  not  be  subdued ; 
and,  "  weary  of  their  obstinate  unbelief,"  he  resolved  to 
leave  La  Pointe.  On  the  13th  of  September,  1669,  the 
renowned  Marquette  took  his  place ;  and,  writing  to  his 
Superior,  describes  the  Dahkotahs  in  these  words  : — 

"  The  Nadouessi  are  the  Iroquois  of  this  country,  be- 
yond La  Pointe,  but  less  faithless,  and  never  attack  till 
attacked. 

"  They  lie  south-west  of  the  mission  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  we  have  not  yet  visited  them,  having  con- 
fined ourselves  to  the  conversion  of  the  Ottawas. 

"  Their  language  is  entirely  different  from  the  Huron 
and  Algonquin;  they  have  many  villages,  but  are 
wddely  scattered;  they  have  very  extraordinary  cus- 
toms ;  they  principally  use  the  calumet ;  they  do  not 
speak  at  great  feasts,  and  when  a  stranger  arrives  give 
him  to  eat  of  a  w^ooden  fork,  as  we  would  a  child. 

"  All  the  lake  tribes  make  war  on  them,  but  with 
small  success.  They  have  false  oats  (wild  rice),  use 
little  canoes,  and  keep  their  word  strictly.  I  sent 
them  a  present  by  an  interpreter,  to  tell  them  to  recog- 
nise the  Frenchman  everywhere,  and  not  to  kill  him  or 
the  Indians  in  his  company  ;  that  the  black  gown  wishes 
to  pass  to  the  country  of  the  Assinipouars  (Assineboines), 
and  to  that  of  the  Kilistinaux  (Cnistineaux) ;  that  he 
was  already  with  the  Outagamis  (Foxes),  and  that  I 
was  going  this  fall  to  the  Illinois,  to  whom  they  should 
leave  a  free  passage. 

"  They  agreed ;  but  as  for  my  present  waited  till  all 
came  from  the  chase,  promising  to  come  to  La  Pointe 


112  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

in  the  fall,  to  hold  a  council  with  the  Illinois  and  speak 
with  me.  Would  that  all  these  nations  loved  God  as 
they  feared  the  French." 

The  relations  of  the  Jesuits  for  1670-71,  allude  to 
the  Dahkotahs,  and  their  attack  on  the  Hurons  and 
Ojibways  of  La  Pointe  : — 

"  There  are  certain  people,  called  Nadouessi,  dreaded 
by  their  neighbours,  and  although  they  only  use  the 
bow  and  arrow,  they  use  it  with  so  much  skill  and  so 
much  dexterity  that,  in  a  moment,  they  fill  the  air.  In 
the  Parthian  mode,  they  turn  their,  heads  in  flight,  and 
discharge  their  arrows  so  rapidly,  that  they  are  no  less 
to  be  feared  in  their  retreat  than  in  their  attack. 

"  They  dwell  on  the  shores  of,  and  around  the  great 
river,  Messipi,  of  which  we  shall  speak.  They  number 
no  less  than  fifteen  populous  towns,  and  yet  they  know 
not  how  to  cultivate  the  earth  by  seeding  it,  contenting 
themselves  with  a  species  of  marsh  rye,  which  we  call 
wild  oats. 

"  For  sixty  leagues,  from  the  extremity  of  the  upper 
lakes  towards  sunset,  and,  as  it  were,  in  the  centre  of 
the  western  nations,  they  have  all  united  their  force,  by 
a  general  league,  which  has  been  made  against  them, 
as  against  a  common  enemy. 

"  They  speak  a  peculiar  language,  entirely  distinct 
from  that  of  the  Algonquins  and  Hurons,  whom  they 
generally  surpass  in  generosity,  since  they  often  content 
themselves  with  the  glory  of  having  obtained  the  vic- 
tory, and  freely  release  the  prisoners  they  have  taken 
in  battle. 

"  Our  Outaouacs  and  Hurons,  of  the  Point  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  had,  to  the  present  time,  kept  up  a  kind 


LA  POINTE  MISSION  ABANDONED.— OJIBW AYS  DIVIDED.    113 

of  peace  with  them,  but  affairs  having  become  embroiled 
during  last  winter,  and  some  murders  having  been  com- 
mitted on  both  sides,  our  savages  had  reason  to  appre- 
hend that  the  storm  would  soon  burst  upon  them,  and 
judged  that  it  was  safer  for  them  to  leave  the  place, 
which  in  fact  they  did  in  the  spring." 

La  Pointe  being  abandoned,  the  nearest  French  set- 
tlement is  Sault  St.  Marie,  at  the  foot  of  the  lake.  In 
the  year  1674  a  party  of  Dahkotahs  arrived  there  to 
make  an  alliance  with  the  French,  having  been  defeated 
in  recent  engagements  with  their  foes.  They  visited 
the  mission-house  of  Father  Dreuilletes,  Avhere  some  of 
their  nation  were  under  religious  instruction;  and  a 
council  of  the  neighbouring  tribes  was  called  to  delibe- 
rate on  the  proposed  peace.  A  Cree  Indian  insulted 
a  Dahkotah  chief  by  brandishing  his  knife  in  his  face. 
Fired  at  the  indignity,  he  drew  his  own  stone  knife 
from  his  belt,  and  shouted  the  war  cry.  A  fierce  con- 
flict now  took  place,  in  which  the  ten  Dahkotah  envoys 
were  scalped  and  the  mission-house  burned. 

The  Saulteurs^  or  Ojibways  divided  into  two  bands, 
not  far  from  this  period.  One  remained  at  the  Falls 
of  Saint  Mary,  and  subsisted  on  the  delicious  white  fish, 
the  other  retired  towards  the  extremity  of  Lake  Supe- 
rior, and  settled  at  two  places,  making  an  alliance  with 
the  Dahkotahs,  who  were  anxious  for  French  goods, 
which  they  strengthened  b}'  intermarriages.  The  Dah- 
kotahs, who  had  their  villages  near  the   Mississippi, 

'  Name  applied  because  they  lived  called  them  Pauotig-oueicuhak,  In- 

at  Sault  St.  Marie.     The  Dahkotahs  habitants  of  the  Falls,  or  Pahoui- 

call  them  Ila-ha-twawns,  Dweller  at  tingdachirini,  Men  of  the  Shallow 

the  Falls.      The  Algonquin   tribes  Cataract. 
8 


114  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

about  the  forty-sixth  degree  of  latitude,  shared  their 
country  with  their  new  allies.  During  the  winter,  the 
Ojibways  hunted,  and  in  the  spring  they  returned  to 
the  shores  of  Lake  Superior.  While  in  the  land  of  the 
Dahkotahs,  they  took  care  not  to  assist  them  in  their 
wars,  lest  they  should  be  embroiled  wdth  surrounding 
nations.^ 

^  Perrot  in  La  Potherie. 


THE  FUR  TRADE.  115 


CHAPTER  V. 

The  trade  in  furs  has  produced  a  class  of  men  of 
marked  peculiarities.  Under  the  French  dominion, 
military  officers,  and  the  descendants  of  a  decayed 
nobility,  were  licensed,  by  authority,  to  trade  in  a 
particular  district.  These  men  were  well  educated, 
poUshed  in  their  manners,  and  fond  of  control.  Living 
in  a  savage  land,  surrounded  by  a  few  dependents,  they 
acted  as  monarchs  of  all  they  surveyed.  The  freedom 
from  the  restraints  of  civilized  life,  and  the  adulation 
received  from  the  barbarians,  who  are  so  easily  im- 
pressed by  tinsel  and  glare,  had  a  wonderful  fascina- 
tion, so  that  a  "  lodge  in  some  vast  wilderness"  became 
preferable  to  the  drawing-rooms  of  ancient  France,  and 
the  gay  assemblies  of  Quebec. 

These  licensed  officers  did  not  harass  themselves  with 
the  minutiaB  of  the  Indian  trade.  In  their  employ  were 
a  few  clerks,  chiefly  natives  of  Canada,  who  had  re- 
ceived the  rudiments  of  an  education.  Upon  these 
devolved  the  task  of  conducting  European  articles  of 
merchandise,  to  the  tribes  on  the  various  watercourses 
that  radiated  from  the  centre  of  trade,  with  whom  they 
wintered,  and  then  returned  in  the  spring  or  summer 
with  the  peltries  that  had  been  obtained  in  exchange 
for  powder,  lead,  rum,  and  tobacco. 


116  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

Under  each  clerk  were  a  few  men  of  no  cultivation, 
the  children  of  poverty  or  shame,  who  from  their 
earhest  youth  had  led  a  roving  life,  and  who  acted  as 
canoe  men,  hewers  of  wood,  and  drawers  of  water. 

Mercurial  in  temperament,  and  with  no  sense  of 
responsibility,  they  were  a  "jolly  set"  of  fellows,  in 
their  habits  approximating  to  the  savage,  rather  than 
the  European. 

The  labours  of  the  day  finished,  they  danced  around 
the  camp-fire  to  the  sound  of  the  viol,  or  they  purchased 
the  virtue  of  some  Lidian  maiden,  and  engaged  in 
debauch  as  disgusting  as  that  of  sailors  sojourning  in 
the  isles  of  the  South  Sea,  or 

"  Worn  with  the  long  day's  march,  and  the  chase 

Of  the  deer,  and  the  bison, 
Stretched  themselves  on  the  ground  and  slept 

Where  the  quivering  fire-light 
Flashed  on  their  swarthy  cheeks,  and  their 

Forms  wrapped  up  in  their  blankets."^ 

Inured  to  toil,  they  arose  in  the  morning  "  when  it 
was  yet  dark,"  and  pushing  the  prow  of  their  light 
canoes  into  the  water,  swiftly  they  glided  away  "  hke 
the  shade  of  a  cloud  on  the  prairie,"  and  did  not  break 
fast  until  the  sun  had  been  above  the  horizon  for  several 
hours. 

Halting  for  a  short  period  they  partook  of  their  coarse 
fare,  and  sang  their  rude  songs;  then  re-embarking, 
they  pursued  their  course  to  the  land  of  the  beaver  and 
the  buffalo,  until  the  "  shades  of  night  began  to  fall." 

From  early  youth  accustomed  to  descend  rapids,  and 
ascend   lofty  bluffs  with   heavy  burdens,  they  guided 

^  Evangeline. 


HABITS  OF  THE  VOYAGEURS.  117 

their  canoes,  and  carried  their  packs  through  places 
that  would  have  been  impassable  to  any  but  the  "  cou- 
reurs  des  bois."^  When  old  age  relaxed  their  sinewy 
joints,  they  returned  to  Mackinaw,  or  some  other 
entrepot,  and  with  an  Indian  woman  obtained,  after 
the  manner  of  the  country,  to  mend  their  moccasins 
and  hoe  their  gardens,  passed  the  remainder  of  life  in 
whiffing  the  pipe  and  recounting  hair-breadth  escapes. 

The  "  bois  brule"^  offsprmg  naturally  became  enam- 
oured with  the  rover's  life,  a  retrospect  of  which  infused 
fire  into  the  dim  eyes  of  the  old  man,  and  as  soon  as 
employment  could  be  obtained  they  left  the  homestead 
to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  their  ancestors. 

The  voyageur  seldom  remains  in  a  settled  country. 
As  civilization  advances  he  feels  cramped  and  uncom- 
fortable, and  follows  the  Indian  in  his  retreat.  On  the 
confines  of  Minnesota  are  many  of  this  class,  whose 
fathers,  a  generation  ago,  dwelt  at  La  Pointe,  Green 
Bay,  or  Prairie  du  Chien.  Before  France  had  taken 
formal  possession  of  the  region  of  the  Lakes,  hundreds 
of  "coureurs  des  bois"  had  ventured  into  the  distant 
North- West.  The  absence  of  so  many  from  regular 
pursuits,  was  supposed  to  be  disastrous  to  the  interests 
of  the  colony,  and  measures  were  taken  by  the  French 
government  to  compel  them  to  return,  which  resulted 
in  only  partial  success. 

Du  Chesneau,  Intendant  of  Canada,  was  worried  by 
the  lawlessness  of  the  rovers,  and  writes  to  the  Minister 
of  Marine^  and  Colonies  of  France  : — 

'  So  called  because  they  wandered  wood,"   applied  to   half-breeds  be- 
through  the  -woods,  to  obtain  peltries  cause  of  their  dark  complexions, 
from  the  savages.  ^  Nov.  10,  1G79,  Paris  Documents, 

*  This    term,    meaning     "burnt  11.     Col.  IHst.  N.  Y.  vol.  ix.  p.  133. 


118  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

"  Be  pleased  to  bear  in  mind,  my  lord,  that  there  was 
a  general  complaint,  the  year  previous  to  my  arrival  in 
this  country,  that  the  great  quantity  of  people  who 
went  to  trade  for  peltries  to  the  Indian  country,  ruined 
the  colony,  because  those  who  alone  could  improve  it, 
being  young  and  strong  for  work,  abandoned  their 
wives  and  children,  the  cultivation  of  lands,  and  rear- 
ing of  cattle ;  that  they  became  dissipated ;  that  their 
absence  gave  rise  to  licentiousness  among  their  wives, 
as  has  often  been  the  case,  and  is  still  of  daily  occur- 
rence; that  they  accustomed  themselves  to  a  loafing 
and  vagabond  life,  which  it  was  beyond  their  power  to 
quit ;  that  they  derived  little  benefit  from  their  labours, 
because  they  were  induced  to  waste  in  drunkenness  and 
fine  clothes  the  little  they  earned,  which  was  very 
trifling,  those  who  gave  them  licenses  having  the  larger 
part,  besides  the  price  of  the  goods,  which  they  sold 
them  very  dear,  and  that  the  Indians  would  no  longer 
bring  them  peltries  in  such  abundance  to  sell  to  the 
honest  people,  if  so  great  a  number  of  young  men  went 
in  search  of  them  to  those  very  barbarians,  who  despised 
us  on  account  of  the  great  cupidity  we  manifested." 

At  one  period,  three-fourths  of  the  revenue  of  Canada 
w^as  derived  from  the  fur  trade. 

Only  twenty-five  licenses  were  granted  each  year; 
and  when  a  "  poor  gentleman"  or  "  old  officer"  did  not 
wish  to  go  West,  he  disposed  of  his  permit,  w^hich  w^as 
valued  at  six  hundred  crowns,  to  the  merchants  of 
Quebec  or  Montreal.  Each  license  allowed  the  pos- 
sessor to  send  two  canoes  into  the  Indian  country.  Six 
"  voyageurs"  were  employed  for  the  canoes,  and  were 
furnished  with  goods  valued  at  one  thousand  crowns, 
with  an  addition  of  fifteen  per  cent.     The  losses  and 


PROFITS  OF  FUR  TRADE.— PERROT.  119 

risk  were  great,  but  when  a  venture  was  successful  the 
profits  were  enormous. 

The  two  canoes  sometimes  brought  to  Montreal 
beautiful  furs  valued  at  eight  thousand  cro"\vns.  The 
merchants  received  from  the  "coureurs  des  bois"  six 
hundred  crowns  for  the  license,  one  thousand  for  the 
goods,  and  forty  per  cent,  on  the  balance  of  sales ;  the 
residue  was  divided  among  the  "coureurs,"  giving  to 
each  five  or  six  hundred  crowns,  which  was  disposed  of 
as  quickly,  and  much  in  the  same  way,  as  mariners  dis- 
charged from  a  ship  of  war  spend  their  wages. 

During  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
the  name  of  Nicholas  Perrot  was  familiar,  not  only  to 
the  men  of  business,  and  officers  of  government  at 
Montreal  and  Quebec,  but  around  the  council  fires  of 
the  Hurons,  Ottawas,  Otchagras,  Ojibways,  Pottawota- 
mies,  Miamies,  and  Dahkotahs.  A  native  of  Canada, 
accustomed  from  childhood  to  the  excitement  and  in- 
cidents of  border  life,  he  was  to  a  certain  extent  pre- 
pared for  the  wild  scenes  witnessed  in  after  days. 

If  the  name  of  Joliet  is  worthy  of  preservation,  the 
citizens  of  the  North- West  ought  not  to  be  willing  to  let 
the  name  of  that  man  die,  who  was  the  first  of  whom 
we  have  any  account  that  erected  a  trading  post  on  the 
upper  Mississippi. 

Perrot  was  a  man  of  good  family,  and  in  his  youth 
applied  himself  to  study,  and,  being  for  a  time  in  the 
service  of  the  Jesuits,  became  familiar  with  the  customs 
and  languages  of  most  of  the  tribes  upon  the  borders  of 
our  lakes. 

Some  years  before  La  Salle  had  launched  the  "  Griffin" 
on  Lake  Erie,  and  commenced  his  career  of  discovery, 
Perrot,  at  the  request  of  the  authorities  in  Canada,  who 


120  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

looked  upon  him  as  a  man  of  great  tact,  visited  the 
various  nations  of  the  North- West,  and  invited  them  to 
a  grand  council  at  Sault  St.  Marie,  for  the  purpose  of 
making  a  treaty  with  France.  Of  mercurial  tempera- 
ment, he  performed  the  journey  with  great  speed,  going 
as  far  south  as  Chicago,  the  site  of  the  present  city. 

On  the  3d  of  September,  1670,  Talon,  the  Intendant 
of  Canada,  ordered  Sieur  de  St.  Lusson  to  proceed  to 
the  "countries  of  the  Outaouais,  Nez  Perces,  Illinois, 
and  other  nations  discovered"  near  Lake  Superior  or 
the  Fresh  Sea,  and  search  for  mines,  particularly  cop- 
per. He  was  also  delegated  to  take  possession  of  all 
the  countries  through  which  he  passed,  planting  the 
cross  and  the  arms  of  France. 

In  May,  1671,  there  was  seen  at  the  Falls  of  St. 
Mary,  what  has  been  of  late,  a  frequent  occurrence. 
Here  was  the  first  convocation  of  civilized  men,  with 
the  aborigines  of  the  North- West,  for  the  formation  of 
a  compact,  for  the  purposes  of  trade  and  mutual  assist- 
ance.^ 

It  was  not  only  the  custom  but  policy  of  the  court 
of  France  to  make  a  great  display  upon  such  an  occa- 
sion. It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  therefore,  that  we 
should  see  the  ecclesiastic  and  mihtary  officers,  sur- 
rounded "with  all  of  the  j)omp  and  circumstance" 
peculiar  to  their  profession  in  that  age  of  extravagance 
in  externals. 

AUouez,  the  first  ecclesiastic  who  saw  the  Dahkotahs 

^  The  Europeans  present,  besides  a  soldier  of  the  castle  of  Quebec ; 

De  Lusson  and  Parrot,  were  the  Je-  Dennis  Masse  ;  Chavigny ;  Chevriot- 

suits,  Andre,  Dreuilletes,   Allouez,  tiere ;  Lagillier ;  Mayser6  ;  Dupuis ; 

and   Dablon  ;    also  Joliet,   the   ex-  Bidaud  Joniel ;  Portcet ;  Du  Prat : 

plorer  of  the  Mississippi ;   Mogras,  A^ital  Oriol ;  Guillaume. 
of  Three  Rivers,  Canada ;  Touppine, 


•        TAKING  POSSESSION  OF  THE  NORTH-WEST.  121 

face  to  face,  and  the  founder  of  the  mission  among  the 
Ojibways  at  La  Point e,  opened  council  by  detaihng  to 
the  painted,  grotesque  assemblage,  enveloped  in  the 
robes  of  the  beaver  and  buffalo,  the  great  power  of  his 
monarch  who  lived  beyond  the  seas. 

Two  holes  were  then  dug,  in  one  of  which  was 
planted  a  cedar  column,  and  in  the  other  a  cross  of  the 
same  material.  After  this  the  European  portion  of  the 
assemblage  chanted  the  h}Tnn  which  was  so  often  heard 
in  the  olden  time  from  Lake  Superior  to  Lake  Pont- 
chartrain : — 

"Vexilla  regis  prodeunt 
Fulget  crucis  mysterium, 
Qua  vita  mortem  pertulit, 
Et  morte,  vitam  pertulit." 

The  arms  of  France,  probably  engraved  on  leaden 
plates,  were  then  attached  to  both  column  and  cross, 
and  again  the  whole  company  sang  together  the  "  Exau- 
diat,"  of  the  Roman  Catholic  service,  the  same  as  the 
20th  Psalm,  of  the  King  James'  version  of  the  Bible. 
The  delegates  from  the  different  tribes  having  signified 
their  approval  of  what  Perrot  had  interpreted  of  the 
speech  of  the  French  Envoy,  St.  Lusson,  there  was  a 
grand  discharge  of  musketry,  and  the  chanting  of  the 
noble  "  Te  Deum  Laudamus." 

After  this  alliance  was  concluded,  Perrot,  in  a  spirit 
of  enterprise,  opened  the  trade  with  some  of  the  more 
remote  tribes. 

The  first  trading  posts  on  Lake  Superior,  beyond 
Sault  St.  Marie,  were  built  of  pine  logs,  by  Daniel 
Greysolon  du  Luth,  a  native  of  Lyons,  at  Kamanisti- 
goya,  the  entrance  of  Pigeon  river,  Minnesota.     On  the 


122  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

1st  of  September,  1678,  lie  left  Quebec,  to  explore  the 
country  of  the  Dcahkotahs  and  xissinebomes. 

The  next  year,  on  the  2d  of  July,  he  caused  the 
king's  arms  to  be  planted  "  in  the  great  village  of  the 
Nadouessioux  (Dahkotahs),  called  Kathio,  where  no 
Frenchman  had  ever  been,  also  at  Songaskicons,  and 
Houetbatons,^  one  hundred  and  twenty  leagues  distant 
from  the  former." 

On  the  15th  of  September,  he  met  the  Assineboines 
and  other  nations,  at  the  head  of  Lake  Superior,  for  the 
purpose  of  settling  their  difficulties  with  the  Dahkotahs, 
and  was  successful. 

On  this  tour  he  \asited  Mille  Lac,  which  he  called 
Lake  Buade,  the  family  name  of  Frontenac,  governor  of 
Canada.^ 

Du  Chesneau,  the  intendant  of  Canada,  appears  to 
have  been  hostile  to  Du  Luth,  and  wrote  to  Seignelay, 
Minister  of  the  Colonies,  that  he  and  Governor  Fronte- 
nac were  in  correspondence,  and  enriching  themselves 
by  the  fur  trade.  He  also  intimated  that  the  governor 
clandestinely  encouraged  Du  Luth  to  sell  his  peltries 
to  the  English.  From  the  tone  of  the  correspondence, 
Du  Chesneau  was  excitable  and  prejudiced.^ 

^  The  Chongasketons  and  Ouade-  vernor,  having  returned  this  year, 

batons  of  the  early  French  maps,  and   I   being  advised   that  he  had 

The  former  were  the  same  as  the  traded  in  two  days,  one  hundred  and 

Sissetoans.  fifty  beaver  robes  in  a  single  village 

^  Coronellis'  map,   corrected    by  of  this  tribe,  amounting  in  all  to 

Tillemon,  published  at  Paris,  1688.  nearly  nine  hundred  beavers,  which 

^  "  The  man  named  La  Taupine,  is  a  matter  of  public  notoriety,  and 

a  famous  '  coureur  de    bois,'    who  that  he  left  with  Du  Luth,  two  men, 

set  out  in  the  month  of  September  whom  he  had  with  him,  considered 

of  last  year,  1678,  to  go  to  the  Ou-  myself  bound  to  have  him  arrested 

tawacs,  with    goods,   and  who    has  and  to  question  him,  but  having  pre- 

always  been  interested  with  the  go-  sented  a  license  frop  the  governor 


DU  LUTH'S  UNCLE. 


123 


He  attempted  to  imprison  several  of  Du  Luth's  friends, 
among  others  his  uncle,  named  Patron,  who  was  a  mer- 
chant, and  his  agent  for  the  sale  of  furs. 

The  account  that  Perrot  gave  of  his  explorations  be- 
yond Lake  Michigan,  attracted  the  attention  of  La  Salle, 
and  induced  him  to  project  those  enterprises  which  have 
given  distinction  to  his  name. 


permitting  him  and  his  comrades, 
Lamonde,  and  Dupuy,  to  repair  to 
the  Outawac  nation  to  execute  his 
secret  orders,  I  had  him  set  at  li- 
berty. Immediately  on  his  going 
out,  Sieur  Prevost,  Town-Mayor  of 
Quebec,  came  at  the  head  of  some 
soldiers,  to  force  the  prison,  -with 
written  orders  in  these  terms  from 
the  governor : — 

"  '  Count  de  Frontenac,  Councillor 
of  the  King  in  his  Council,  Governor 


and  LieutenantrGeneral  of  His  Ma- 
jesty in  New  France : 

"Sieur  Prevost,  Mayor  of  Quebec, 
is  ordered,  in  case  the  Intendant  ar- 
rest Pierre  Moreau,  alias  La  Tau- 
pine,  whom  we  have  sent  to  Quebec, 
as  bearer  of  despatches,  upon  pre- 
text of  his  having  been  in  the  bush, 
to  set  him  forthwith  at  liberty,  and 
employ  every  means  for  this  purpose 
at  his  peril.  Done  at  Montreal,  5th 
September,  1679. 

Frontenac'  " 


124  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

The  same  autumn  that  Du  Luth  left  Montreal  for 
the  region  west  of  Lake  Superior,  La  Salle  was  at  Fort 
Frontenac,  the  modern  Kingston,  busily  engaged  in 
maturing  his  plans  for  an  occupation  of  the  iSIississippi 
valley.  During  the  winter  and  the  followmg  spring  his 
employees  were  occupied  in  building  a  vessel  to  navi- 
gate the  lakes.  Among  those  who  were  to  accompany 
him  on  the  voyage  was  Louis  Hennepin,  a  Franciscan 
priest,  of  the  Recollect  order. 

The  first  European  to  explore  the  Mississippi  above 
the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin;  the  first  to  name  and 
describe  the  Falls  of  Saint  Anthony ;  the  first  to  pre- 
sent an  engraving  of  the  Falls  of  Niagara  to  the  literary 
world ;  the  Minnesotian  will  desire  to  know  something 
of  the  antecedents  and  subsequent  life  of  this  indi\ddual. 

The  account  of  Hennepin's  early  hfe  is  chiefly  ob- 
tained from  the  mtroduction  to  the  Amsterdam  edition 
of  his  book  of  travels.  He  was  born  in  Ath,  an  inland 
town  of  the  Netherlands.  From  boyhood  he  longed 
to  visit  foreign  countries,  and  it  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at  that  he  assumed  the  ]Driestly  office,  for  next  to  the 
army,  it  was  the  road,  in  that  age,  to  distinction.  For 
several  years  he  led  quite  a  wandering  life.    A  member 


HENNEPIN'S  FONDNESS  OF  ADVENTURE.        125 

of  the  Recollect  branch  of  the  Franciscans,  at  one  time 
he  is  on  a  begging  expedition  to  some  of  the  towns  on 
the  sea  coast.  In  a  few  months  he  occupies  the  post  of 
chaplain  at  an  hospital,  where  he  shrives  the  dying  and 
administers  extreme  unction.  From  the  quiet  of  the  hos- 
pital he  proceeds  to  the  camp,  and  is  present  at  the  battle 
of  Seneffe,  which  occurred  in  the  year  1674. 

His  w^hole  mind,  from  the  time  that  he  became  a 
priest,  appears  to  have  been  on  "  things  seen  and  tem- 
poral," rather  than  on  those  that  are  "unseen  and 
eternal."  While  on  duty  at  some  of  the  ports  on  the 
Straits  of  Dover,  he  exhibited  the  characteristic  of  an 
ancient  Athenian  more  than  that  of  a  professed  successor 
of  the  Apostles.  He  sought  out  the  society  of  strangers 
'•  who  spent  their  time  in  nothing  else  but  either  to  tell 
or  to  hear  some  new  thing."  With  perfect  nonchalance 
he  confesses  that  notwithstanding  the  nauseating  fumes 
of  tobacco,  he  used  to  slip  behind  the  doors  of  sailors' 
taverns,  and  spend  days,  without  regard  to  the  loss  of 
his  meals,  listening  to  the  adventures  and  hair-breadth 
escapes  of  the  mariners  in  lands  beyond  the  sea. 

In  the  year  1676  he  received  a  welcome  order  from 
his  Superior,  requiring  him  to  embark  for  Canada.  Un- 
accustomed to  the  world,  and  arbitrary  in  his  disposi- 
tion, he  rendered  the  cabin  of  the  ship  in  which  he 
sailed  anything  but  heavenly.  As  in  modern  days,  the 
passengers  in  a  vessel  to  the  new  world  were  composed 
of  heterogeneous  materials.  There  were  young  women 
going  out  in  search  for  brothers  or  husbands,  ecclesias- 
tics, and  those  engaged  in  the  then  new,  but  profitable, 
commerce  in  furs.  One  of  his  fellow  passengers  was  the 
talented  and  enterjirising,  though  unfortunate,  La  Salle, 
with  whom  he  afterwards  associated.     If  he  is  to  be 


126  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

credited,  his  intercourse  with  La  Salle  was  not  very 
pleasant  on  ship-board.  The  young  women,  tired  of 
being  cooped  up  in  the  narrow  accommodations  of  the 
ship,  when  the  evening  was  fair  sought  the  deck,  and 
engaged  in  the  rude  dances  of  the  French  peasantry  of 
that  age.  Hennepin,  feeling  that  it  was  improper, 
began  to  assume  the  air  of  the  priest,  and  forbade  the 
sport.  La  Salle,  feeling  that  his  interference  was  un- 
called for,  called  him  a  pedant,  and  took  the  side  of  the 
girls,  and  during  the  voyage  there  were  stormy  discus- 
sions. 

Good  humour  appears  to  have  been  restored  when 
they  left  the  ship,  for  Hennepin  would  otherwise  have 
not  been  the  companion  of  La  Salle  in  his  great  Western 
journey. 

Sojourning  for  a  short  period  at  Quebec,  the  adven- 
ture-loving Franciscan  is  permitted  to  go  to  a  mission 
station  on  or  near  the  site  of  the  present  town  of  Kings- 
ton, Canada  West. 

Here  there  was  much  to  gratify  his  love  of  novelty, 
and  he  passed  considerable  time  in  rambling  among 
the  Lroquois  of  New  York,  even  penetrating  as  far 
eastward  as  the  Dutch  Fort  Orange,  now  the  city  of 
Albany. 

In  1678  he  returned  to  Quebec,  and  was  ordered  to 
join  the  expedition  of  Robert  La  Salle. 

On  the  6  th  of  December  Father  Hennepin  and  a  por- 
tion of  the  exploring  party  had  entered  the  Niagara 
river.  In  the  vicinity  of  the  Falls,  the  winter  was 
passed,  and  while  the  artisans  were  preparing  a  ship 
above  the  Falls,  to  navigate  the  great  lakes,  the  Eecol- 
lect  wiled  away  the  hours  in  studying  the  manners  and 


THE  SHIP  GRIFFIN.— HENNEPIN.  127 

customs  of  the  Seneca  Indians,  and  in  admiring  the 
sublimest  handiwork  of  God  on  the  globe. 

On  the  7th  of  August,  1679,  the  ship  being  com- 
pletely rigged,  unfurled  its  sails  to  the  breezes  of  Lake 
Erie.  The  vessel  was  named  the  "  Griffin,"  in  honour 
of  the  arms  of  Frontenac,  Governor  of  Canada,  the  first 
ship  of  European  construction  that  had  ever  ploughed 
the  waters  of  the  great  inland  seas  of  North  America. 

After  encountering  a  violent  and  dangerous  storm  on 
one  of  the  lakes,  during  which  they  had  given  up  all 
hopes  of  escaping  shipwreck,  on  the  27th  of  the  month, 
they  were  safely  moored  in  the  harbour  of  "  Missili- 
raackinack."  From  thence  the  party  proceeded  to 
Green  Bay,  where  they  left  the  ship,  procured  canoes, 
and  continued  along  the  coast  of  Lake  Michigan.  By 
the  middle  of  January,  1680,  La  Salle  had  conducted 
his  expedition  to  the  Illuiois  river,  and  on  an  eminence 
near  Lake  Peoria,  he  commenced,  with  much  heaviness 
of  heart,  the  erection  of  a  fort,  which  he  called  Creve- 
coeur,  on  account  of  the  many  disappointments  he  had 
experienced. 

La  Salle,  in  the  month  of  February,  selected  Henne- 
pin and  two  traders  for  the  arduous  and  dangerous 
undertaking  of  exploring  the  unkno^vn  regions  of  the 
upper  Mississippi. 

Daring  and  ambitious  of  distinction  as  a  discoverer, 
he  was  not  averse  to  such  a  commission,  though  per- 
haps he  may  have  shrunk  from  the  undertaking  at  so 
inclement  a  season  as  the  last  of  February  is,  in  this 
portion  of  North  America. 

On  the  29th  of  February,  1680,  with  two  vo^^ageurs, 
named  Picard  du  Gay  and  Michael  Ako,  Henncpui  em- 
barked in  a  canoe  on  the  voyage  of  discovery. 


128  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

The  venerable  Ribourde,  a  member  of  a  Burgundian 
family  of  high  rank,  and  a  fellow  Franciscan,  came 
down  to  the  river  bank  to  see  him  off,  and,  in  bidding 
him  farewell,  told  him  to  acquit  himself  like  a  man,  and 
be  of  good  courage.  His  words  were,  "  Viriliter  age  et 
confortetur  cor  tuum." 

The  canoe  was  loaded  with  about  one  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars'  worth  of  merchandise  for  the  purpose  of 
trade  with  the  Indians,  and  in  addition  La  Salle  pre- 
sented to  Hennepin  ten  knives,  twelve  awls  or  bodkms, 
a  parcel  of  tobacco,  a  package  of  needles,  and  a  pound 
or  two  of  white  or  black  beads. 

The  movements  of  Hennepin,  during  the  month  of 
March,  are  not  very  clearly  related.  He  appears  to 
have  been  detained  at  the  junction  of  the  Illinois  mth 
the  Mississippi  by  the  floating  ice,  until  near  the  mid- 
dle of  that  month.  He  then  commenced  the  ascent  of 
the  river  for  the  first  time  by  civilized  man,  though 
Marquette  had,  seven  years  before,  descended  fmm  the 
Wisconsin. 

Surrounded  by  hostile  and  unknown  natives,  they 
cautiously  proceeded.  On  the  11th  of  April,  1680, 
thirty-three  bark  canoes,  containing  a  Dahkotah  war 
party  against  the  Illinois  and  Miami  nations,  hove  in 
sight,  and  commenced  discharging  their  arrows  at  the 
canoe  of  the  Frenchmen.  Perceiving  the  calumet  of 
peace,  they  ceased  theu'  hostile  demonstrations  and  ap- 
proached. The  first  night  that  Hennepin  and  his  com- 
panions passed  with  the  Dahkotah  party  w^as  one  of 
anxiety.  The  next  morning,  a  chief  named  Narrhetoba 
asked  for  the  peace  calumet,  filled  it  with  willow  bark. 


and  all  smoked.     It  was  then  simified  that  the  white 


o" 


men  were  to  return  with  them  to  their  villages. 


FRANCISCAN'S  ATTEMPT  TO  PRAY.  129 

In  his  narrative  the  Franciscan  remarks  : — "  I  found 
it  difficult  to  say  m}'  office  before  these  Indians.  Many 
seeing  me .  move  my  Hps,  said  in  a  fierce  tone,  '  Ouak- 
anche.'  Michael,  all  out  of  countenance,  told  me,  that 
if  I  continued  to  say  my  breviary,  we  should  all  three 
be  killed,  and  the  Picard  begged  me  at  least  to  jiYiiy 
apart,  so  as  not  to  provoke  them.  I  followed  the 
latter's  advice,  but  the  more  I  concealed  myself,  the 
more  I  had  the  Indians  at  my  heels,  for  when  I  entered 
the  wood,  the}'  thought  I  was  going  to  hide  some  goods 
under  ground,  so  that  I  knew  not  on  what  side  to  turn 
to  pray,  for  they  never  let  me  out  of  sight.  This 
obliged  me  to  beg  pardon  of  my  canoe-men,  assuring 
them  I  could  not  dispense  Avitli  saying  my  office.  By 
the  word  '  Ouakanche,'  the  Indians  meant  that  the 
book  I  was  reading  was  a  spirit,  but  by  their  gesture 
they  nevertheless  showed  a  kind  of  aversion,  so  that  to 
accustom  them  to  it,  I  chanted  the  Litany  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  in  the  canoe,  with  my  book  opened.  They 
thought  that  the  l^reviary  was  a  sjDirit  which  taught  me 
to  sing  for  their  diversion,  for  these  people  are  naturally 
fond  of  singing." 

This  is  the  first  mention  of  a  Dahkotah  word  in  a 
European  book.  The  savages  were  annoyed  rather 
than  enraged,  at  seeing  the  white  man  reading  a  book, 
and  exclaimed  "  Wakan-de  !"  this  is  wonderful  or  super- 
natural. The  war  party  was  composed  of  several  bands 
of  the  M'dewakantonwan  Dahkotahs,  and  there  was  a 
diversity  of  opinion  in  relation  to  the  disposition  that 
should  l)e  made  of  the  wliit<3  men.  The  relatives  of 
those  who  had  been  killed  by  the  Miamis,  were  in 
favour  of  taking  their  scalps,  but  others  were  anxious 


130  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

to  retain  the  favour  of  the  French,  and  open  a  trading 
intercourse. 

Perceiving  one  of  the  canoe-men  shoot  a  wild  turkey, 
they  called  the  gun  Manza  Ouackange — iron  that  has 
understanding ;  more  correctly,  Maza  Wakande,  this  is 
the  supernatural  metal. 

Aquipaguatin,  one  of  the  head  men,  resorted  to  the 
following  device  to  obtain  merchandise.  Says  the 
Father,  "this  wily  savage  had  the  bones  of  some  dis- 
tinguished relative,  which  he  preserved  wdth  great  care 
in  some  skins  dressed  and  adorned  with  several  rows  of 
black  and  red  porcupine  quills.  From  time  to  time  he 
assembled  his  men  to  give  it  a  smoke,  and  made  us 
come  several  days,  to  cover  the  bones  with  goods,  and 
by  a  present  wipe  away  the  tears  he  had  shed  for  him, 
and  for  his  own  son  killed  by  the  Miamis.  To  apjjease 
this  captious  man,  we  threw  on  the  bones  several 
fathoms  of  tobacco,  axes,  knives,  beads,  and  some  black 
and  white  wampum  bracelets.  *  *  *  *  '"•'  *  * 
We  slept  at  the  point  of  the  Lake  of  Tears,^  which  we 
so  called  from  the  tears  wdiich  this  chief  shed  all  night 
long,  or  by  one  of  his  sons  whom  he  caused  to  weep 
when  he  grew  tired." 

The  next  day,  after  four  or  five  leagues'  sail,  a  chief 
came,  and  telling  them  to  leave  their  canoes,  he  pulled 
up  three  piles  of  grass  for  seats.  Then  taking  a  piece 
of  cedar,  full  of  little  holes,  he  placed  a  stick  into  one, 
which  he  revolved  between  the  palms  of  his  hands, 
until  he  kindled  a  fire,  and  informed  the  Frenchmen 
that  they  would  be  at  Mille  Lac  in  six  days.  On  the 
nineteenth  day  after  their  captivity,  they  arrived  in  the 

^  Lake  Pepin. 


HENNEPIN  NEAR  ST.  PAUL.— iMILLE  LAC.  131 

vicinity  of  Saint  Paul,  not  far,  it  is  probable,  from  the 
marshy  ground  on  which  the  Kaposia  band  once  lived, 
and  now  called  "  Pig's  Eye." 

The  journal  remarks,  "  Having  arrived,  on  the  nine- 
teenth day  of  our  navigation,  five  leagues  below  St. 
Anthony's  Falls,  these  Lidians  landed  us  in  a  bay, 
broke  our  canoe  to  pieces,  and  secreted  their  own  in 
the  reeds." 

They  then  followed  the  trail  to  Mille  Lac,  sixty 
leagues  distant.  As  they  approached  their  villages,  the 
various  bands  began  to  show  their  sjooils.  The  tobacco 
was  highly  prized,  and  led  to  some  contention.  The 
chaUce  of  the  Father,  which  glistened  in  the  sun,  they 
were  afraid  to  touch,  supposing  it  was  "  wakan."^  After 
five  days'  walk  they  reached  the  Issati  (D<ahkotah) 
settlements  in  the  valley  of  the  Rum  river.  The  dif- 
ferent bands  each  conducted  a  Frenchman  to  their 
village,  the  chief  Aquipaguetin  taking  charge  of  Hen- 
nepin. After  marching  through  the  marshes  towards 
the  sources  of  Rum  river,  five  wives  of  the  chief,  in 
three  bark  canoes,  met  them  and  took  them  a  short 
lea^'ue  to  an  island  where  their  cabins  were. 

An  aged  Indian  kindly  rubbed  do^vn  the  way-worn 
Franciscan — placing  him  on  a  bear-skin  near  the  fire, 
he  anointed  his  legs  and  the  soles  of  his  feet  with  wild- 
cat oil. 

The  son  of  the  chief  took  great  pleasure  in  carrying 
upon  his  bare  back  the  priest's  robe  with  dead  men's 
bones  enveloped.  It  was  called  Pere  Louis  Chinnien — 
in  the  Dahkotah  language  Shinna  or  Shinnan  signifies 

^  The  word  for  supernatural,  in     ed,   but   pronounced   "  wakon,"   or 
the  Dahkotah  Lexicon,  is  thus  spell-     "  -wawkawn." 


132  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

a  buffalo  robe.     Hennepin's  description  of  his  life  on 
the  island  is  in  these  words : — 

"  The  day  after  our  arrival,  Aquipaguetin,  who  was 
the  head  of  a  large  family,  covered  me  with  a  robe  made 
of  ten  large  dressed  beaver  skins,  trimmed  with  porcu- 
pine quills.  This  Indian  showed  me  five  or  six  of  his 
wives,  telling  them,  as  I  afterwards  learned,  that  they 
should  in  future  regard  me  as  one  of  their  children. 

"  He  set  before  me  a  bark  dish  full  of  fish,  and,  seeing 
that  I  could  not  rise  from  the  ground,  he  had  a  small 
sweating-cabin  made,  in  which  he  made  me  enter  naked 
with  four  Indians.  This  cabin  he  covered  with  buffalo 
skins,  and  inside  he  put  stones  red-hot.  He  made  me 
a  sign  to  do  as  the  others  before  beginning  to  sweat,  but 
I  merely  concealed  my  nakedness  with  a  handkerchief 
As  soon  as  these  Indians  had  several  times  breathed 
out  quite  violently,  he  began  to  sing  vociferously,  the 
others  putting  their  hands  on  me  and  rubbing  me  while 
they  wept  bitterly.  I  began  to  faint,  but  I  came  out 
and  could  scarcely  take  my  habit  to  put  on.  When  he 
made  me  sweat  thus  three  times  a  week,  I  felt  as  strong 
as  ever." 

The  mariner's  comjDass  was  a  constant  source  of 
wonder  and  amazement.  Aquipaguetin  having  assem- 
bled the  braves,  would  ask  Hennepin  to  show  his  com- 
pass. Perceiving  that  the  needle  turned,  the  chief 
harangued  his  men,  and  told  them  that  the  Europeans 
were  spirits,  capable  of  doing  anything. 

In  the  Franciscan's  possession  was  an  iron  pot  with 
lion  paw  feet,  which  the  Indians  would  not  touch  unless 
their  hands  were  wrapped  in  buffalo  skins. 

The  women  looked  upon  it  as  "  wakan,"  and  would 
not  enter  the  cabin  where  it  was. 


QUERIES  OF  THE  DAHKOTAHS.  133 

"  The  chiefs  of  these  savages,  seeing  that  I  was  de- 
sirous to  learn,  frequently  made  me  write,  naming  all 
the  parts  of  the  human  body ;  and  as  I  would  not  put 
on  paper  certain  indelicate  words,  at  which  they  do  not 
blush,  they  were  heartily  amused." 

They  often  asked  the  Franciscan  questions,  to  answer 
which  it  was  necessary  to  refer  to  his  lexicon.  This 
appeared  very  strange,  and,  as  they  had  no  word  for 
paper,  they  said,  "  That  white  thing  must  be  a  spirit 
which  tells  Pere  Louis  all  we  say." 

Hennepin  remarks  :  "  These  Indians  often  asked  me 
how  many  wives  and  children  I  had,  and  how  old  I  was, 
that  is,  how  many  winters ;  for  so  these  natives  always 
count.  Never  illumined  by  the  light  of  faith,  they  were 
surprised  at  my  answer.  Pointing  to  our  two  French- 
men, whom  I  was  then  visiting,  at  a  point  three  leagues 
from  our  village,  I  told  them  that  a  man  among  us 
could  only  have  one  wife ;  that,  as  for  me,  I  had  pro- 
mised the  Master  of  life  to  live  as  they  saw  me,  and  to 
come  and  live  with  them  to  teach  them  to  be  like  the 
French. 

"  But  tliat  gross  people,  till  then  lawless  and  faithless, 
turned  all  I  said  into  ridicule.  'How,'  said  they,  'would 
you  have  these  two  men  with  thee  have  wives  ?  Ours 
would  not  live  with  them,  for  they  have  hair  all  over 
their  face,  and  we  have  none  there  or  elsewhere.'  In 
fact  they  were  never  better  pleased  with  me  than  when 
I  was  shaved,  and  from  a  complaisance,  certainly  not 
criminal,  I  shaved  every  week. 

"  As  I  often  went  to  visit  the  cabins,  I  found  a  sick 
child,  whose  father's  name  was  Mamenisi.  Michael 
Ako  would  not  accompany  me ;  the  Picard  du  Gay  alone 


134  HISTORY  OF  iMINNESOTA. 

followed  me  to  act  as  sponsor,  or  rather  to  witness  the 
baptism. 

"  I  christened  the  child  Antoinette,  in  honour  of  St. 
Anthony  of  Padua,  as  well  as  for  the  Picard's  name, 
which  \vas  Anthony  Auguelle.  He  was  a  native  of 
Amiens,  and  nephew  of  the  Procurator-General  of  the 
Premonstratensians  both  now  at  Paris.  Having  pourfed 
natural  water  on  the  head  and  uttered  these  words  : — 
'  Creature  of  God,  I  baptize  thee  in  the  name  of  the 
Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,'  I  took 
half  an  altar  cloth  which  I  had  wrested  from  the  hands 
of  an  Indian  who  had  stolen  it  from  me,  and  put  it  on 
the  body  of  the  baptized  child ;  for  as  I  could  not  say 
mass  for  want  of  wine  and  vestments,  this  piece  of  linen 
could  not  be  put  to  better  use,  than  to  enshroud  the 
first  Christian  child  among  these  tribes.  I  do  not  know 
whether  the  softness  of  the  linen  had  refreshed  her,  but 
she  was  the  next  day  smiling  in  her  mother's  arms,  who 
believed  that  I  had  cured  the  child — but  she  died  soon 
after,  to  my  great  consolation. 

"  During  m}''  stay  among  them,  there  arrived  four 
savages,  who  said  they  were  come  alone  five  hundred 
leagues  from  the  west,  and  had  been  four  months  upon 
the  way.  They  assured  us  there  was  no  such  place  as 
the  Straits  of  Anian,  and  that  they  had  travelled  with- 
out resting,  except  to  sleep,  and  had  not  seen  or  passed 
over  any  great  lake,  by  which  phrase  they  always  mean 
the  sea. 

"  They  further  informed  us  that  the  nation  of  the 
Assenipoulacs  (Assiniboines)  who  lie  north-east  of  Issati, 
was  not  above  six  or  seven  days'  journey ;  that  none  of 
the  nations,  within  their  knowledge,  who  lie  to  the  east 


FALSEHOODS  OF  HENNEPIN.  .135 

or  north-west,  had  any  great  lake  about  their  countries, 
which  were  very  large,  but  only  rivers  which  came 
from  the  north.  They  further  assured  us  that  there 
were  very  few  forests  in  the  countries  through  which 
they  passed,  insomuch  that  now  and  then  they  were 
forced  to  make  fires  of  buffaloes'  dung  to  boil  their  food. 
All  these  circumstances  make  it  ajDpear  that  there  is  no 
such  place  as  the  Straits  of  Anian,  as  we  usually  see 
them  set  down  on  the  maps.  And  whatever  efforts 
have  been  made  for  many  years  past  by  the  English 
and  Dutch,  to  find  out  a  passage  to  the  Frozen  Sea,  they 
have  not  yet  been  able  to  effect  it.  But  by  the  help  of 
my  discovery,  and  the  assistance  of  God,  I  doubt  not 
but  a  passage  may  still  be  found,  and  that  an  easy  one 
too. 

"  For  example,  we  may  be  transported  into  the  Paci- 
fic Sea,  by  rivers  which  are  large  and  capable  of  carry- 
ing great  vessels,  and  from  thence  it  is  very  easy  to  go  to 
China  and  Japan,  without  crossing  the  equinoctial  line, 
and,  in  all  probability,  Japan  is  on  the  same  continent  as 
America." 

It  is  painful  to  witness  a  member  of  the  sacred  pro- 
fession so  mendacious  as  Hennepin.  After  publishing 
a  tolerably  correct  account  of  his  adventures  in  Minne- 
sota, in  1683,  at  Paris,  fifteen  years  after  he  issued 
another  edition  greatly  enlarged,  in  which  he  claims  to 
have  descended  the  Mississippi  towards  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  as  well  as  discovered  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony. 
As  the  reader  notes  his  glaring  contradictions  in  this 
last  Avork,  he  is  surprised  that  the  author  should  have 
been  Ijold  enough  to  contend,  that  the  statements  were 
reliable.     Though  a  large  portion  was  plagiarized  from 


136 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


the  accounts  of  other  travellers,  it  had  a  rapid  sale,  and 
was  translated  into  several  languages.^ 


^  The  following  will  give  some 
idea  of  the  popularity  of  Hennepin's 
narrative.  It  was  prepared  by  Dr. 
O'Callaghan,  for  the  Historical  Ma- 
gazine, Jan.  1858,  and  is  believed  to 
be  nearly  a  complete  list  of  the  seve- 
ral editions  of  Hennepin's  books  : 

No.  1.  Description  de  laLouisiane. 
12rao.  Paris,  1683.  Meusel.  Ter- 
naux,  No.  985. 

2.  The  same.  12mo.  Paris,  1G84. 
Rich.,  in  No.  403  of  1G83. 

3.  Descrizione  della  Luisiana. 
12mo.  Bologna,  168G.  Rib.  Belg. 
Meusel  Ternaux,  No.  1012.  Trans- 
lated by  Casimir  Frescot. 

4.  Description  de  la  Louisiane. 
r2mo.  Paris,  1688.  Richarderie 
Faribault. 

5.  Beschryving  van  Louisiana. 
4to.  Amsterdam,  1688.  Harv. 
Cat. 

6.  Beschreibung,  &c.  12mo. 
Nurnberg,  1689.  Meusal.  Ternaux, 
No.  1041. 

7.  Nouvelle  Decouverte.  ]2mo. 
Utrecht,  1697.  Ternaux,  1095. 
"  Nouvelle  Description,"  Meusel. 
Faribault. 

8.  The  same.  12mo.  Amsterdam, 
1698.     Ternaux,  No.  1110. 

9.  New  Discovery.  London,  1698. 
Ternaux,  No.  1119,  who  calls  it  a 
4to. ;  all  the  other  catalogues  an  8vo. 
J.  R.  B.  says  2v. ;  but  see  Rich. 

10.  Another,  same  title.  8vo. 
London, 1698.     J.  R.  B. 

11.  Nouveau  Voyage.  12mo. 
Utrecht,  1698.  Ternaux,  No.  1111. 
2v.  Bib.  Belg.     Hennepin  calls  this 


his  third  vol. ;  No.  1  sujy.,  being  his 
first,  and  No.  7  sup.  his  second. 
Rich. 

12.  An  edition  in  Dutch.  4to. 
Utrecht,  1698.     J.  R.  B. 

13.  Nouveau  Voyage.  Amster- 
dam, 1698.     Faribault. 

14.  A  New  Discovery  of  a  Vast 
Country,  &c.  8vo.  London,  Bon- 
wick,  1699.  t.  f.  Ded.  4ff.  Pref. 
2ff.  Cont.  3ff.  Text,  pp.  240  and 
216,  with  tit.,  pref.  and  cont.  to  part 
II. ;  two  maps,  six  plates.  [Not  in 
any  catalogue.] 

15.  Relation,  de  un  Pays,  &c. 
12mo.  Brusselas,  1699.  Ternaux, 
1126.  A  translation  into  Spanish 
by  Seb.  Fern,  de  Medrano. 

16.  Neue  Entdekungcn  vieler 
grossen  Landschaften  in  Amerika. 
12mo.  Bremen,  1699.  Ternaux, 
1049,  who  gives  the  date  incorrectly, 
1690.  Translated  by  Langen.  Meu- 
sel, No.  6  of  J.  R.  B.,  and  an  edition 
in  German  of  No.  7.     Svpra. 

17.  Voyage  ou  Nouvelle  Decou- 
verte. 8vo.  Amsterdam,  1704. 
Meusel,  Rich.,  No.  8. 

18.  The  same.  8vo.  Amsterdam, 
1711.  Meusel.  Faribault  says 
"Nouvelle  Description." 

19.  The  same.  12mo.  Amster- 
dam, 1712.    J.  R.  B. 

20.  A  Discovery  of  a  large,  rich, 
&c.  8vo.  London,  1720.  Rich., 
No.  12. 

21.  Nouvelle  Description.  Am- 
sterdam, 1720.     Faribault. 

22.  Nouvelle  Decouverte.  4to. 
Amsterdam,  1737.    Richarderie.    In 


KING  OF  FRANCE  DISSATISFIED  WITH  HENNEPIN.  137 

No  doubt  much  of  the  information  which  the  author 
obtained  in  relation  to  Minnesota,  was  obtained  from 
Du  Luth,  whom  he  met  in  the  Dahkotah  country,  and 
with  whom  he  descended  the  Mississippi  on  his  return 
to  Canada. 

Having  made  a  favourable  acquaintance  with  English 
gentlemen,  he  dedicated  the  edition  of  his  work,  pub- 
lished at  Utrecht,  in  1698,  to  King  William,  and  the 
contents  induced  the  British  to  send  vessels  to  enter 
the  Mississippi  river.  Callieres,  Governor  of  Canada, 
writing  to  Pontchartrain,'  the  Minister,  says,  "  I  have 
learned  that  they  are  preparing  vessels  in  England  and 
Holland  to  take  possession  of  Louisiana,  upon  the  rela- 
tion of  Pere  Louis  Hennejiin,  a  Recollect  who  has  made 
a  book  and  dedicated  it  to  King  William." 

After  he  had  earned  a  reputation,  not  to  be  coveted, 
he  desired  to  return  to  America,  and  Louis  XIV.,  in  a 
despatch  to  Callieres,  writes,  '-His  majesty  has  been 
informed  that  Father  Hennepin,  a  Dutch  Franciscan, 
who  has  formerly  been  in  Canada,  is  desirous  of  return- 
ing thither.  As  his  majesty  is  not  satisfied  with  the 
conduct  of  the  friar,  it  is  his  pleasure,  if  he  return 
thither,  that  they  arrest  and  send  him  to  the  Intendant 
of  Rochefort." 

Li  the  year  1701  he  was  still  in  Europe,  attached  to 
a  Convent  in  Italy.^  He  appears  to  have  died  in 
obscurity,  unwept  and  unhonoured. 

Ilistoiro  des  Incas.     A  translation  of  '  May  12,  1G99.    See  Smith's  Hist. 

Garcilasso  de  la  Vega  by  Rousseler.  Wisconsin,  vol.  i.,  p.  318. 

2.3.  Neue  Entdekungcn,  &c.   Bre-  ^  Historical  Magazine,  Boston,  p. 

men,  1742.     The  same  as   No.    15,  31G,  vol,  i. 
with  a  new  title  page. 


138  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

Du  Liitli  and  not  Hennepin  was  considered  the  real 
discoverer  of  Minnesota.  Le  Clercq  remarks,  that  "  in 
the  last  year  of  M.  de  Frontenac's  first  administration, 
Sieur  du  Luth,  a  man  of  talent  and  experience,  opened 
a  way  to  the  missionaries  and  the  gospel  in  many  dif- 
ferent nations,  turning  toward  the  north  of  that  lake 
(Superior),  where  he  even  built  a  fort.  He  advanced 
as  far  as  the  Lake  of  the  Issati  (Mille  Lac),  called  Lake 
Buade,  from  the  family  name  of  M.  de  Frontenac." 

Li  the  month  of  June,  1680,  he  left  his  post  on  Lake 
Superior,  and  Avith  two  canoes,  an  Indian,  and  four 
Frenchmen,  entered  a  river,  eight  leagues  below,  ascend- 
ing to  the  sources  of  which,  he  made  a  portage  to  a  lake, 
which  is  the  head  of  a  river  that  entered  into  the  Mis- 
sissippi. Proceeding  toward  the  Dahkotah  villages  he 
met  Hennepin,  with  a  party  of  Indians. 

Returning  to  Quebec,  Du  Luth  visited  France,  and 
conferred  with  the  Minister  of  the  Colonies,  but  in 
1683,  he  was  at  Mackinaw  fortifying  the  post  against 
a  threatened  attack  by  the  savages,  and  sending  ex- 
presses to  the  Indians  north  and  west  of  Lake  Superior, 
who  traded  at  Hudson's  Bay  wdth  the  English,  to  come 
and  traffic  with  the  French. 

In  the  spring  of  1683,  Governor  De  La  Barre  sent 
twenty  men,  under  the  command  of  Nicholas  Perrot,  to 
establish  frendly  alliances  ^yiih  the  loways  and  Dali- 
kotahs.  Proceeding  to  the  Mississippi,  he  established  a 
post  below  the  mouth  of  the  "  Ouiskonche"^  (Wiscon- 
sin), which  was  known  as  Fort  St.  Nicholas.^ 

He  found  the  Miamies,  Foxes,  and  Maskoutens,  at  war 

1  La  Potherie.  ^  Bellin. 


PEKROT'S  INTERVIEW  WITH  DAHKOTAHS.— LEAD  MINES.   139 

with  the  Dahkotahs,  who  were  at  that  time  in  alliance 
with  their  old  foes,  the  Ojibways. 

Frenchmen  visited  the  Dahkotahs  during  the  winter ; 
and,  at  the  opening  of  navigation,  a  deputation  of  them 
came  down  to  the  post,  and  carried  Perrot  with  great 
parade,  on  a  robe  of  beavers,  to  the  lodge  of  their  chief, 
chanting  songs,  and  weeping  over  his  head  according  to 
custom. 

He  learned  from  the  Dahkotahs  a  droll  adventure. 
The  Hurons,  who  had  fled  to  them  for  refuge,  at  length 
excited  them  to  war.  The  Hurons  secreted  themselves 
in  marshes,  keej)ing  their  heads  only  out  of  water.  The 
Dahkotahs,  knowing  that  they  would  travel  in  the  night, 
devised  an  ingenious  stratagem.  Cutting  up  beaver-skins 
into  cords,  they  stretched  them  around  the  marshes,  and 
suspended  bells  on  them  which  they  had  obtained  from 
the  French.  When  night  came  the  Hurons  marched, 
and,  stumbling  over  the  unseen  cords,  they  rung  the 
bells,  which  was  a  signal  for  the  attack  of  the  Dahko- 
tahs, who  killed  the  whole  party  with  one  exception. 

While  they  were  in  the  neighbourhood,  they  pillaged 
the  goods  of  some  Frenchmen ;  but,  under  the  threats 
of  Perrot,  they  were  brought  back. 

The  Miamies  brought  to  the  post  lumps  of  lead,  which 
they  said  were  found  between  the  rocks,  on  the  banks  of 
a  small  stream  which  flowed  into  the  Mississippi,  about 
two  days'  journey  below  that  point.  These  were  pro- 
bably the  mines  of  Galena,  which  are  marked  on  De 
r  Isle's  maps  of  the  Mississippi. 

In  the  month  of  March,  1684,  notwitlistanding  all 
the  attempts  of  the  French  to  keep  the  peace,  a  band 
of  Seneca  and  Cayuga  warriors,  having  met  seven  canoes 


140  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

manned  by  fourteen  Frenchmen,  with  fifteen  or  sixteen 
thousand  pounds  of  merchandise,  ^vho  were  going  to 
trade  with  the  "  Scioux,"  pillaged  and  made  them 
prisoners;  and,  after  detaining  them  nine  days,  sent 
them  away  without  arms,  food,  or  canoes.  This  attack 
caused  much  alarm  in  Canada ;  and  Du  Luth,  who 
appeared  to  have  been  in  command  at  Green  Bay,  Avas 
ordered  by  the  Governor  of  Canada  to  come  and  state 
the  number  of  allies  he  could  bring. 

Perrot,  who  happened  to  be  engaged  in  trade  among 
the  Outagamis  (Foxes),  not  very  far  distant  from  the 
bay,  rendered  him  great  assistance  in  collecting  allies. 

With  great  expedition  he  came  to  Niagara,  the  place 
of  rendezvous,  with  a  band  of  Indians,  and  Avould  alone 
have  attacked  the  Senecas,  had  it  not  been  for  an 
express  order  from  De  La  Barre,  the  governor,  to 
desist. 

When  Louis  XIV.  heard  of  this  outbreak  of  the  L-o- 
quois,  he  felt,  to  use  his  words,  "  that  it  was  a  grave 
misfortune  for  the  colony  of  New  France,"  and  then,  in 
his  letter  to  the  governor,  he  adds :  "It  appears  to  me 
that  one  of  the  principal  causes  of  the  war  arises  from 
one  Du  Luth  having  caused  two  Iroquois  to  be  killed 
who  had  assassinated  two  Frenchmen  in  Lake  Superior, 
and  you  sufficiently  see  how  much  this  man's  voyage, 
which  cannot  produce  any  advantage  to  the  colony, 
and  which  was  permitted  only  in  the  interest  of  some 
private  persons,  has  contributed  to  distract  the  repose 
of  the  colony." 

The  English  of  New  York,  knowing  the  hostility  of 
the  Iroquois  to  the  French,  used  the  opportunity  to  trade 
with  the  distant  Indians.   In  1685,  one  Roseboom,  with 


DU  LUTII.— ENGLISH  CAPTURED.  141 

some  young  men,  had  traded  with  the  Ottawas  in  Michi- 
gan. 

In  the  year  1686,  an  old  Frenchman,  who  had  lived 
among  the  Dutch  and  English  in  New  York,  came  to 
Montreal,  to  visit  a  child  at  the  Jesuit  hoarding-school ; 
and  he  stated  that  a  Major  McGregory,  of  Albany,  was 
contemplating  an  expedition  to  Mackinac. 

Denonville  having  declared  war  in  1687,  most  of  the 
French  left  the  region  of  the  Mississippi.  Perrot  and 
Boisguillot,  at  the  time  trading  near  the  Wisconsin, 
leaving  a  few  "  coureurs  des  bois"  to  protect  their  goods 
from  the  Dahkotahs,  joined  Du  Luth,  who  was  in  com- 
mand at  Green  Bay. 

The  Governor  of  Canada  ordered  Du  Luth  to  proceed 
to  the  present  Detroit  river,  and  watch  whether  the  Eng- 
Ush  passed  into  Lake  St,  Clair.  In  accordance  with  the 
order,  he  left  Green  Bay.  Being  provided  with  fifty 
armed  men,  he  established  a  post  called  Fort  St.  Joseph, 
some  thirty  miles  above  Detroit. 

In  the  year  1687,  on  the  19th  of  May,  the  brave  and 
distinguished  Tonty,  who  was  a  cousin  of  Du  Luth, 
arrived  at  Detroit,  from  his  fort  on  the  Illinois.  Duran- 
taye  and  Du  Luth,  knowing  that  he  had  arrived,  came 
down  from  Fort  St.  Joseph  with  thirty  captive  English. 
Here  Tonty  and  Du  Luth  joined  forces  and  proceeded 
toward  the  Iroquois  country.  As  they  were  coasting 
Lake  Erie,  they  met  and  captured  Major  McGregory,  of 
Albany,  then  on  his  way  with  thirty  Englishmen,  to 
trade  with  the  Indians  at  Mackinac. 

Du  Luth  having  reached  Lake  Ontario,  we  find  him 
engaged  in  that  confiict  with  the  Senecas  of  the  Gene- 
see valley,  when  Father  Angleran,  the  superintendent 
of  the  Mackinac  mission,  was  severely  but  not  mortally 


142 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


wounded.     After  this  battle,  he  returned,  in  company 
with  Tonty,  to  his  post  on  the  Detroit  river/ 


^  Baron  La  lion  tan  speaks  of 
Grisolon  de  la  Tourette  being  at 
Niagara  in  August,  1687,  and  calls 
him  a  brother  of  Du  Luth. 

In  1689,  immediately  previous  to 
the  burning  of  Schenectady,  we  find 
him  fighting  the  Iroquois  in  the 
neighbourhood,  and  there  is  reason 
to  suppose  that  he  was  engaged  in 
the  midnight  sack  of  that  town. 
As  late  as  the  year  1696,  he  is  on 
duty  at  Fort  Frontenac ;  but  after 
the  peace  of  Ryswick,  which  occa- 
sioned a  suspension  of  hostilities,  we 
hear  but  little  more  of  this  man, 
who  was  the  first  of  whom  we  have 
any  account,  who  came  by  way  of 
Lake  Superior  to  the  upper  Missis- 
sippi. 

The  letter  of  one  of  the  Jesuit 
fathers,  shows  that  in  some  things 
he  was  as  superstitious  as  the  Dah- 
kotahs,  with  whom  he  once  traded. 
While  in  command  of  Fort  Fronte- 
nac, in  1696,  he  gave  the  following 
certificate : 

"I,  the  subscriber,  certify  to  all 
whom  it  may  concern,  that  having 


been  tormented  by  the  gout  for  the 
space  of  twenty-three  years,  and 
with  such  severe  pains  that  it  gave 
me  no  rest  for  the  space  of  three 
months  at  a  time,  I  addressed  myself 
to  Catherine  Tegahkouita,  an  Iro- 
quois virgin,  deceased  at  the  Sault 
Saint  Louis,  in  the  reputation  of 
sanctity,  and  I  promised  her  to  visit 
her  tomb  if  God  should  give  me 
health  through  her  intercession.  I 
have  been  so  perfectly  cured  at  the 
end  of  one  novena  which  I  made  in 
her  honour,  that  after  five  months  I 
have  not  perceived  the  slightest 
touch  of  my  gout. 

"  Given  at  Fort  Frontenac,  this 
18th  day  of  August,  1696. 

"J.  De  Luth,  Capt.  of  the  Marine 
Corps,  Commander  Fort  Frontenac." 

He  died  in  1710.  The  despatch 
announcing  the  fact  to  the  Home 
Government,  is  expressive  in  its  sim- 
plicity :  Capt.  Du  Luth  is  dead,  "  he 
was  an  honest  man."  Who  would 
wish  more  said  of  him  ?  His  name 
is  spelled  Du  Luth,  Du  Lut,  Dulhut, 
and  De  Luth,  in  the  old  documents. 


FORMAL  OCCUPANCY  OF  MINNESOTA.         143 


CHAPTER   VII. 

Althougu  Du  Lutli  and  Hennepin  had  visited  Minne- 
sota, France  laid  no  formal  claim  to  the  country,  until 
the  year  1689,  when  Perrot,  accompanied  by  Le  Sueur, 
Father  Marest,  and  others,  planted  the  cross  and  affixed 
the  arms  of  France. 

The  first  official  document  pertaining  to  Minnesota  is 
worthy  of  preservation,  and  thus  reads  : — 

"  Nicholas  Perrot,  commanding  for  the  King,  at  the 
post  of  the  Nadouessioux,  commissioned  by  the  Marquis 
Denonville,  Governor  and  Lieutenant-Governor  of  all 
New  France,  to  manage  the  interests  of  commerce 
among  all  the  Indian  tribes,  and  people  of  the  Bay  des 
Puants,^  Nadouessioux,^  Mascoutins,  and  other  western 
nations  of  the  Upper  Mississippi,  and  to  take  possession 
in  the  King's  name  of  all  tlie  places  where  he  has  here- 
tofore been,  and  whither  he  will  go. 

"  We,  this  day,  the  eighth  of  May,  one  thousand  six 
hundred  and  eighty-nine,  do,  in  the  presence  of  the 
Reverend  Father  Marest  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  mis- 
sionary among  the  Nadouessioux ;  of  Monsieur  de  Borie- 

*  Green  Bay,  Wisconsin.  ^  Dahkotahs. 


144 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


guillot/  commanding  the  French  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  the  Ouiskonche^  on  the  Mississippi ;  Augustin  Legar- 
deur.  Esquire,  Sieur  de  Caumont,  and  of  Messieurs  Le 
Sueur,  Hebert,  Lemire,  and  Blein  : 

"Declare  to  all  whom  it  may  concern,  that,  being 
come  from  the  Bay  des  Puants,  and  to  the  Lake  of  the 
Ouiskonches,  and  to  the  river  Mississippi,  we  did  trans- 
port ourselves  to  the  country  of  the  Nadouessioux,  on 
the  border  of  the  river  St.  Croix,^  and  at  the  mouth  of 
the  river  St.  Pierre,"*  on  the  bank  of  which  were  the 
Mantantans;^  and,  farther  up  to  the  interior  to  the 
north-east  of  the  Mississippi,  as  far  as  the  Menchoka- 
tonx,^  with  whom  dwell  the  majority  of  the  Songes- 
kitons,  and  other  Nadouessioux,  who  are  to  the  north- 
east of  the  Mississippi,  to  take  possession  for,  and  in  the 
name  of  the  King,  of  the  countries  and  rivers  inhabited 


*  Charlevoix  writes  Boisguillot. 

^  Wisconsin,  (Fort  St.  Nicholas,) 
Ouiskonche,  Mesconsing,  Ouiscon- 
sing,  Wiskonsan,  are  some  of  the 
former  spellings  of  this  word. 

'  This  is  not  ecclesiastical  in  its 
associations,  but  named  after  Mons. 
Saint  Croix,  who  was  drowned  at  its 
mouth. — La  Harpe's  Louisiana. 

*  Nicollet  supposes  that  this  river 
bore  the  name  of  Capt.  St.  Pierre. 

*  The  Dahkotahs  have  a  tradition, 
that  a  tribe  called  Onktokadan,  who 
lived  on  the  St.  Croix  just  above  the 
lake,  was  exterminated  by  the  Foxes. 

At  an  early  date  the  Mde-wa-kan- 
ton-wan  division  of  the  Dahkotah 
tribe  split  into  two  parties,  one  of 
which  was  denominated  Wa-kpa-a- 
ton-we-dan,  and  the  other  Ma-tan- 
ton-wan.  The  former  name  signifies, 
— Those-who-dwell-on-the-creek,  be- 


cause they  had  their  village  on  Rice 
Creek,  a  stream  which  empties  into 
the  Mississippi  seven  miles  above 
the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony.  The  sig- 
nification of  the  latter  name  is  un- 
known. It  is  said  that  Ta-te-psin, 
Wa-su-wi-ca-xta-xni,  Ta-can-rpi-sa- 
pa,  A-nog-i-na  jin,  Ru-ya-pa,  and  Ta- 
can-ku-wa-xte,  whose  names  signify, 
respectively,  Bounding-Wind,  Bad- 
Ilail,  Black-Tomahawk,  He-stands- 
both-sides,  Eagle-IIead,  and  Good- 
Road,  are  descendants  of  the  Wa-kpa- 
a-ton-we-dan. — Wa-ku-te,  Ta-o-ya-te- 
du-ta,  Ma-za-ro-ta,  Ma-rpi-ya-ma-za, 
Ma-rpi-wi-ca-xta,  and  Xa-kpe-dan, 
are  said  to  be  Ma-tan-ton-wans.  The 
respective  signification  of  tlieir  names 
is  as  follows :  Shooter,  ITis-scarlet- 
people,  Grey-Iron,  Iron-Cloud,  Sky- 
Man,  and  Little-six. 
*  M'daywawkawntwawns. 


FORT  AT  LAKE  PEPIN.  145 

b}'  the  said  tribes,  and  of  which  they  are  proprietors. 
The  present  act  done  in  our  presence,  signed  with  our 
hand  and  subscribed."^ 

The  first  French  estabhshment  in  Minnesota  was  on 
the  west  shore  of  Lake  Pepin,  a  short  distance  above 
the  entrance.^  On  a  map  of  the  year  1700,  it  was 
called  Fort  Bon  Secours ;  three  years  later  it  was  marked 
Fort  Le  Sueur,  and  abandoned  ;^  but  in  a  much  later 
map  it  is  correctly  called  Fort  Perrot.'* 

The  year  that  Perrot  visited  Minnesota,  Frontenac, 
who  had  been  recalled  seven  years  before,  was  recom- 
missioned  as  Governor  of  Canada.  He  issued  orders 
that  the  Frenchmen  in  the  upper  Mississippi  country 
should  return  to  Mackinaw. 

Frontenac  was  dogmatic  and  overbearing,  though 
deeply  interested  in  the  extension  of  the  power  of 
France.  During  the  first  term  of  office  he  had  opposed 
the  ecclesiastics,  who  deplored  the  ill  effects  of  rum 
and  licentious  "  coureurs  des  bois"  upon  the  morals  of 
the  savages,  and  desired  both  excluded  from  the  country. 
He  had  no  interest  in  Christianity,  and  still  less  confi- 
dence in  the  Jesuits.  In  a  communication  to  the 
government  he  ])hnitly  said,  to  Colbert  the  minister, 
"  To  speak  frankly  to  you,  they  think  as  much  about 
the  conversion  of  beavers  as  of  souls.  The  majority  of 
their  missions  are  mere  mockeries." 

Learning  that  Durantaye,  the  Commandant  at  Macki- 

'  Then  arc  given  the  names  of  ^  Bellin's  description  of  Map  of 

those  already  mentioned.     This  re-  North  America. 

cord  was  drawn  up  at  Green  Bay,  '  De  I'lsle's  Maps  1700,  and  1703. 

Wisconsin.  This  last  name  appears  incorrect. 


See  Jeffcry's  Map,  17G2. 


10 


146  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

naw,  was  disposed  to  be  friendly  to  missionary  schemes, 
he  superseded  him  by  the  appointment  of  Louvigny. 

Perrot,  who  was  on  a  visit  to  Montreal,  conducted 
the  new  commander  to  his  post,  where  he  found  the 
Ottawas  wavering,  and  about  to  carry  their  peltries  to 
the  English ;  but  by  his  uncommon  tact  he  regained 
their  confidence,  and  a  flotilla  of  one  hundred  canoes, 
with  furs  valued  at  one  hundred  thousand  crowns, 
started  towards  Montreal. 

On  the  eighteenth  of  August,  1690,  the  citizens  of  that 
city  perceived  the  waters  of  the  Saint  Lawrence  dark- 
ened by  descending  canoes,  and  supposing  that  they 
were  filled  by  the  dreaded  Iroquois,  alarm-guns  were 
fired  to  call  in  the  citizens  from  the  country ;  but  this 
terror  was  soon  turned  to  joy,  by  a  messenger  arriving 
with  the  intelligence  that  it  was  a  party  of  five  hundred 
Indians,  of  various  tribes  near  Mackinaw,  who  had 
come  to  the  city  to  exchange  their  peltries.  So  large 
a  number  from  the  North- West  had  not  appeared  for 
years ;  and,  on  the  twenty-fifth,  Count  Frontenac  gave 
them  a  grand  feast  of  two  oxen,  six  large  dogs,  two 
barrels  of  wine,  and  some  prunes,  with  a  plentiful 
supply  of  tobacco. 

The  Ottawas  in  council  demanded  the  meaning  of  the 
hatchet  Perrot  had  hung  in  their  cabin. 

Frontenac  told  them  that  they  were  aware  of  the 
tidings  he  had  received,  that  a  powerful  army  was  com- 
ing to  ravage  his  country ;  that  all  that  was  necessary 
to  conclude  was  the  mode  of  proceedmg,  whether  to  go 
and  meet  this  army,  or  to  wait  for  it  with  a  firm  foot ; 
that  ho  put  into  their  hands  the  hatchet  which  had  been 
formerly  given  them,  and  had  since  been  kept  suspended 


LONG  DESIRED  PELTRIES  ARRIVE  AT  MONTREAL.  147 

for  them,  and  he  doubted  not  they  would  make  good 
use  of  it. 

He  then,  hatchet  in  hand,  sung  the  war  song,  in 
which  the  Indians  joined. 

The  increasing  Iroquois  and  EngUsh  hostiHty  made 
it  a  dangerous  undertaking  to  transport  in  canoes  to  or 
from  Mackinaw. 

Lieutenant  D'Argenteuil  was  despatched  by  Frontenac 
in  1692,  with  eighteen  Canadians  on  increased  pay  to 
Mackinaw,  with  an  order  to  Louvigny,  the  commander, 
to  send  down  all  the  Frenchmen  that  could  be  spared 
from  the  North- West,  and  the  large  amount  of  peltries 
that  had  accumulated  at  his  post. 

On  the  seventeenth  of  August  two  hundred  canoes 
filled  with  Frenchmen  and  Ottawas  arrived  from  the 
upper  country  at  Montreal  with  the  long-detained  furs. 

"  The  merchant,  the  farmer,  and  other  individuals  who 
might  have  some  peltries  there,  were  dying  of  hunger, 
with  property  they  could  not  enjoy.  Credit  was  ex- 
hausted, and  the  apprehension  universal  that  the  Eng- 
lish might  seize  this  last  resource  of  the  country  while 
it  was  on  the  way.  Terms  sufficiently  strong  were  not 
to  be  found  to  praise  and  bless  him  by  whose  care  so 
much  property  had  arrived."^ 

The  Indians  were  entertained  at  the  governor's  table, 
and  on  Sunday,  the  sixth  of  September,  there  was  a 
grand  war  dance.  The  next  day  they  received  presents, 
and  during  the  week  returned  to  their  own  country. 

The  French  soon  followed  under  the  direction  of 
Tonty,  Commandant  of  the  Illinois.  La  Motte,  Cadil- 
lac, and  D'Argenteuil  shortly  after  were  ordered  to 
Mackinaw,  Louvigny  being  recalled.     Perrot  was  sta- 

^  Paris  Doc.  vol.  ix.    N.  Y.  Col.  Hist. 


148  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

tionecl  among  the  Miamis,  at  a  place  called  "  Malamek," 
in  Michigan ;  and  Le  Sueur  was  sent  to  La  Pointe  of 
Lake  Superior  to  maintain  the  peace  that  had  just  been 
concluded  between  the  Ojibways  and  Dahkotahs. 

The  mission  of  Le  Sueur  was  important.  As  the 
Foxes  and  Mascoutins  had  become  inimical,  the  north- 
ern route  to  the  Dahkotahs  was  the  only  one  that  could 
be  used  in  transporting  goods. 

In  the  year  1695,  the  second  post  in  Minnesota  was 
l3uilt  by  Le  Sueur.  Above  Lake  Pepin,  and  below  the 
mouth  of  the  St.  Croix,  there  are  many  islands,  and  the 
largest  of  these  was  selected  as  the  site.^  The  object 
of  the  establishment  was  to  interpose  a  barrier  between 
the  Dahkotahs  and  Ojibwa^^s,  and  maintain  the  peaceful 
relations  which  had  been  created.  Charlevoix  speaks 
of  the  island  a«  having  a  very  beautiful  prairie,  and 
remarks  that  "  the  French  of  Canada  have  made  it  a 
centre  of  commerce  for  the  western  parts,  and  many 
pass  the  winter  here,  because  it  is  a  good  coimtry  for 
hunting." 

On  the  fifteenth  of  July,  Le  Sueur  arrived  at  Mon- 
treal with  a  party  of  Ojibways,  and  the  first  Dalilcotah 
brave  that  had  ever  visited  Canada. 

The  Indians  were  much  impressed  with  the  power 
of  France  by  the  marching  of  a  detachment  of  seven 
hundred  picked  men,  under  Chevalier  Cresafi,  who  were 
on  their  Avay  to  La  Chine. 

On  the  eighteenth,  Frontenac,  in  the  presence  of 
Callieres  and  other  persons  of  distinction,  gave  them  an 
audience. 

The  first  speaker  was  the  chief  of  the  Ojibway  band 
at  La  Pointe,  Shingowahbay,  who  said  : — 

^  Bellin  in  his  description  of  the  Chart  of  North  America. 


OJIBWAY  AND  DAHKOTAII  CHIEFS'  SPEECH.  149 

"  That  he  was  come  to  pay  his  respects  to  Onontio/ 
in  the  name  of  the  3^oimg  warriors  of  Pouit  Chagoua- 
migon,  and  to  thank  him  for  having  given  them  some 
Frenchmen  to  dwell  with  them ;  to  testify  their  sorrow 
for  one  Jobin,  a  Frenchman,  who  was  killed  at  a  feast 
accidentally,  and  not  maliciously.  We  come  to  ask  a 
favour  of  you,  which  is  to  let  us  act.  We  are  allies  of 
the  Scion.  Some  Outagamies  or  Mascoutins  have  been 
killed.  The  Sciou  came  to  mourn  with  us.  Let  us  act. 
Father;  let  us  take  revenge. 

"  Le  Sueur  alone,  who  is  acquainted  with  the  lan- 
guage of  the  one  and  the  other,  can  serve  us.  We  ask 
that  he  return  with  us." 

Another  speaker  of  the  Ojibways  was  Le  Brochet. 

Teeoskahtay,  the  Dahkotah  chief,  before  he  spoke, 
spread  out  a  beaver  robe,  and  laying  another  with  a 
tobacco  pouch  and  otter  skin,  began  to  weep  bitterly. 
After  drying  his  tears  he  said  : — 

"  All  of  the  nations  had  a  fjither  who  afforded  them 
protection ;  all  of  them  have  iron.  But  he  was  a  bas- 
tard in  quest  of  a  father ;  he  was  come  to  see  him,  and 
begs  that  he  will  take  pity  on  him." 

He  then  placed  upon  the  beaver  robe  twenty-two 
arrows,  at  each  arrow  naming  a  Dahkotah  village  that 
desired  Frontenac's  protection.  Resuming  his  speech, 
he  remarked : — 

"  It  is  not  on  account  of  what  I  bring  that  I  hope  he 
who  rules  this  earth  will  have  pity  on  me.  I  learned 
from  the  Sauteurs  that  he  wanted  nothing;  that  he  was 
the  Master  of  the  Iron ;  that  he  had  a  big  heart,  into 
which   he    could   receive    all   the   nations.     This    has 

'  The  title  the  Indians  always  gave  to  the  Governor, 


150  niSTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

induced  me  to  abandon  my  people  to  come  to  seek  his 
protection,  and  to  beseech  him  to  receive  me  among  the 
number  of  his  children.  Take  courage,  Great  Captain, 
and  reject  me  not;  despise  me  not  though  I  appear  poor 
in  your  eyes.  All  the  nations  here  present  know  that 
I  am  rich,  and  the  little  they  offer  here  is  taken  from 
my  lands." 

Count  Frontenac  in  reply  told  the  chief  that  he  would 
receive  the  Dahkotahs  as  his  children,  on  condition  that 
they  would  be  obedient,  and  that  he  would  send  back 
Le  Sueur  with  him. 

Teeoskahtay,  taking  hold  of  the  governor's  knees, 
wept,  and  said  : — "  Take  pity  on  us ;  we  are  well  aware 
that  we  are  not  able  to  speak,  being  children ;  but  Le 
Sueur,  who  understands  our  language,  and  has  seen  all 
our  villages,  will  next  year  inform  you  what  will  have 
been  achieved  by  the  Sioux  nations,  represented  by 
those  arrows  before  you." 

Having  finished,  a  Dahkotah  woman,  the  wife  of  a 
great  chief  whom  Le  Sueur  had  purchased  from  captivity 
at  Mackmaw,  approached  those  in  authority,  and  with 
do"\vncast  eyes  embraced  their  knees,  weeping  and  say- 
ing:— 

"  I  thank  thee.  Father ;  it  is  by  thy  means  I  have 
been  liberated,  and  am  no  longer  captive." 

Then  Teeoskahtay  resumed  : — 

^'  I  speak  like  a  man  penetrated  with  joy.  The  Great 
Captain ;  he  who  is  the  Master  of  the  Iron,  assures  me 
of  his  protection,  and  I  promise  him  that  if  he  conde- 
scends to  restore  my  children,  now  prisoners  among  the 
Foxes,  Ottawas,  and  Hurons,  I  will  return  hither,  and 
bring  with  me  the  twenty-two  villages  whom  he  has  just 
restored  to  life  by  promising  to  send  them  Iron." 


DAHKOTAH  CHIEF  DIES  IN  CANADA.  151 

On  the  14th  of  August,  two  weeks  after  the  Ojibway 
chief  left  for  his  home  on  Lake  Superior,  Nicholas  Per- 
rot  arrived  with  a  deputation  of  Sauks,  Foxes,  Meno- 
monees,  Miamis  of  Maaramek,  and  Pottowattamies. 

Two  days  after,  they  had  a  council  with  the  governor, 
who  thus  spoke  to  a  Fox  brave : — 

"  I  see  that  you  are  a  young  man ;  your  nation  has 
quite  turned  away  from  my  wishes;  it  has  pillaged 
some  of  my  young  men,  whom  it  has  treated  as  slaves. 
I  know  that  your  father,  who  loved  the  French,  had  no 
hand  in  the  indignity.  You  only  imitate  the  example 
of  your  father,  who  had  sense,  when  }  ou  do  not  co- 
operate with  those  of  jour  tribe  who  are  wishing  to  go 
over  to  my  enemies,  after  the}'  grossly  insulted  me,  and 
defeated  the  Sioux,  whom  I  now  consider  m}^  son.  I 
pity  the  Sioux ;  I  pity  the  dead  whose  loss  I  deplore. 
Perrot  goes  up  there,  and  ho  will  speak  to  3'our  nation 
from  me,  for  the  release  of  their  prisoners;  let  them 
attend  to  him." 

Teeoskahtay  never  returned  to  his  native  land. 
While  in  Montreal  he  was  taken  sick,  and  in  thirty- 
three  days  he  ceased  to  breathe ;  and,  followed  by  white 
men,  his  body  was  interred  in  the  white  man's  grave. 

Le  Sueur,  instead  of  going  back  to  Minnesota  that 
year,  as  was  expected,  went  to  France,  and  received 
a  license,  in  1697,  to  open  certain  mines  supposed 
to  exist  in  Minnesota.  The  ship  in  wdiich  he  was 
returning,  was  captured  by  the  English,  and  he  was 
taken  to  England.  After  his  release,  he  Avent  ])ack  to 
France,  and,  in  1098,  obtained  a  new  commission  for 
mining. 

While  Le  Sueur  was  in  Europe,  the  Dahkotahs 
waged  war  against  the  Foxes  and  Miamis.     In  retalia- 


152  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

tion,  the  Latter  raised  a  war  party,  and  entered  the  land 
of  the  Dahkotahs.  Fmding  their  foes  intrenched,  and 
assisted  by  "  coureurs  des  bois,"  they  were  indignant ; 
and  on  their  return  they  had  a  skirmish  with  some 
Frenchmen,  who  were  carrying  goods  to  the  Dahko- 
tahs. 

Shortly  after,  they  met  Perrot,  and  were  al^out  to 
burn  him  to  death,  when  prevented  by  some  friendly 
Foxes.  The  Miamis,  after  this,  were  disposed  to  be 
friendly  to  the  Iroquois.  In  1696,  the  year  previous, 
the  authorities  at  Quebec  decided  that  it  was  expedient 
to  abandon  all  the  posts  west  of  Mackinaw,  and  with- 
draw the  French  from  Wisconsin  and  Minnesota. 

The  "  voyageurs"  were  not  disposed  to  leave  the 
country,  and  the  governor  wrote  to  Pontchartrain  for 
instructions,  in  October,  1698.  In  his  despatch  he 
remarks : — 

"  In  this  conjuncture,  and  under  all  these  circum- 
stances, we  consider  it  our  duty  to  postpone,  until  new 
instructions  from  the  court,  the  execution  of  Sieur  Le 
Sueur's  enterprise  for  the  mines,  though  the  j)TOmise 
had  already  been  given  him  to  send  two  canoes  in 
advance  to  Missilimackinac,  for  the  purpose  of  pur- 
chasing there  some  provisions  and  other  necessaries  for 
his  voyage,  and  that  he  would  be  permitted  to  go  and 
join  them  early  in  the  spring  with  the  rest  of  his  hands. 
What  led  us  to  adopt  this  resolution  has  been,  that  the 
French  who  remained  to  trade  off  with  the  Five  Na- 
tions the  remainder  of  their  merchandise,  miglit,  on 
seeing  entirely  new  comers  arriving  there,  consider 
themselves  entitled  to  dispense  with  coming  down,  and 
perhaps  adopt  the  resolution  to  settle  there ;  wdiilst, 
seeing  no  arrival  there,  Avith  permission  to  do  what  is 


LE  SUEUR'S  LICENSE  TO  MINE  REVOKED.  353 

forbidden,  the  reflection  they  will  be  able  to  make 
during  the  winter,  and  the  apprehension  of  being  guilty 
of  crime,  may  oblige  them  to  return  in  the  spring. 

"  This  would  be  very  desirable,  in  consequence  of  the 
great  difhculty  there  will  be  in  constraining  them  to  it, 
should  they  be  inclined  to  lift  the  mask  altogether  and 
become  buccaneers;  or  should  Sieur  Le  Sueur,  as  he 
easily  could  do,  furnish  them  with  goods  for  their 
beaver  and  smaller  peltry,  which  he  might  send  down 
by  the  return  of  other  Frenchmen,  whose  sole  desire  is 
to  obey,  and  who  have  remained  only  beeause  of  the 
impossibility  of  getting  their  effects  down.  This  would 
rjather  induce  those  who  would  continue  to  lead  a  vaga- 
bond life  to  remain  there,  as  the  goods  they  would 
obtain  from  Le  Sueur's  people  would  afford  them  the 
means  of  doing  so." 

In  reply  to  this  communication,  Louis  XIV.  answered 
that — 

"  His  majesty  has  approved  that  the  late  Sieur  de 
Frontenac  and  De  Champigny,  suspended  the  execution 
of  the  license  granted  to  the  man  named  Le  Sueur  to 
proceed,  with  fifty  men,  to  explore  some  mines  on  the 
banks  of  the  Mississippi.  He  has  revoked  said  license, 
and  desires  that  the  said  Le  Sueur,  or  any  other  person, 
be  prevented  from  leaving  the  colony  on  pretence  of 
going  in  search  of  mines,  without  his  majesty's  express 
permission." 

Le  Sueur,  undaunted  by  these  drawbacks  to  the  pro- 
secution of  a  favourite  project,  again  visited  France. 


154  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

Fortunately  for  Le  Sueur,  D'Iberville,  who  was  a 
friend,  and  closely  connected  by  marriage,  was  appointed 
governor  of  the  new  territory  of  Louisiana.^ 

In  the  month  of  December  he  arrived  from  France, 
with  thirty  workmen,  to  proceed  to  the  supposed  mines 
in  Minnesota. 

On  the  thirteenth  of  July,  1700,  with  a  felucca,  two 
canoes,  and  nmeteen  men,  having  ascended  the  Missis- 
sippi, he  had  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  and 
six  leagues  above  this  he  passed  the  Illinois.  He  there 
met  three  Canadians,  who  came  to  join  him,  with  a 
letter  from  Father  Marest,  who  had  once  attempted  a 
mission  among  the  Dahkotahs,  dated  July  13,  Mission 
Immaculate  Conception  of  the  Holy  Virgin,  in  Illinois. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  write,  in  order  to  inform  you 
that  the  Saugiestas  have  been  defeated  by  the  Scioux  and 
Ayavois  (lowas).  The  people  have  formed  an  alliance 
with  the  Quincapous  (Kickapoos),  some  of  the  Mecou- 
tins,  Renards  (Foxes),  and  Metesigamias,  and  gone  to 
revenge  themselves,  not  on  the  Scioux,  for  they  are  too 
much  afraid  of  them,  but  perhaps  on  the  Ayavois,  or 
very  likely  upon  the  Paoutees,  or  more  probably  upon 

^  Charlevoix  says  that  he  was  the  father  of  the  governor,  perhaps  wife's 
father? 


LE  SUEUR  MEETS  A  WAR  PARTY.  155 

the  Osages,  for  these  suspect  nothmg,  and  the  others 
are  on  their  guard. 

"  As  you  will  probably  meet  these  allied  nations,  you 
ought  to  take  precaution  against  their  plans,  and  not 
allow  them  to  board  your  vessel,  since  they  are  traitors, 
and  utterly  faithless.  I  pray  God  to  accompany  you  in 
all  your  designs." 

Twenty-two  leagues  above  the  Illinois,  he  passed  a 
small  stream  which  he  called  the  River  of  Oxen,  and 
nine  leagues  beyond  this  he  passed  a  small  river  on  the 
west  side,  where  he  met  four  Canadians  descending  the 
Mississippi,  on  their  Avay  to  the  Illinois.  On  the  30th 
of  July,  nine  leagues  above  the  last-named  river,  he 
met  seventeen  Scioux,  in  seven  canoes,  who  were  going 
to  revenge  the  death  of  three  Scioux,  one  of  whom  had 
been  burned,  and  the  others  killed,  at  Tamarois,  a  few 
days  before  his  arrival  in  that  village.  As  he  had  pro- 
mised the  chief  of  the  Illinois  to  appease  the  Scioux,  who 
should  go  to  war  against  his  nation,  he  made  a  present 
to  the  chief  of  the  party  to  engage  him  to  turn  back. 
He  told  them  the  King  of  France  did  not  wish  them  to 
make  this  river  more  bloody,  and  that  he  was  sent  to 
tell  them  that,  if  they  obeyed  the  king's  word,  they 
would  receive  in  future  all  things  necessary  for  them. 
The  chief  answered  that  he  accepted  the  present,  that 
is  to  say,  that  he  would  do  as  had  been  told  him. 

From  the  30th  of  July  to  the  25th  of  August,  Le 
Sueur  advanced  fifty-three  and  one-fourth  leagues  to  a 
small  river  which  he  called  the  River  of  the  Mine.*  At 
the  mouth  it  runs  from  the  north,  but  it  turns  to  tlie 
north-east.     On  the  right  seven  leagues,  there  is  a  lead 

*  This  is  the  first  mention  of  tho  Galena  mines. 


156  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

mine  in  a  prairie,  one  and  a  half  leagues;  the  river  is 
only  navigable  in  high  water,  that  is  to  say,  from  early 
spring  till  the  month  of  June. 

From  the  25th  to  the  27th  he  made  ten  leagues, 
passed  two  small  rivers,  and  made  himself  acquainted 
with  a  mine  of  lead,  from  which  he  took  a  supply. 
From  the  27th  to  the  30th  he  made  eleven  and  a  half 
leagues,  and  met  five  Canadians,  one  of  whom  had 
been  dangerously  wounded  in  the  head.  They  were 
naked,  and  had  no  ammunition  except  a  miserable  gun, 
with  five  or  six  loads  of  powder  and  balls.  They  said 
they  were  descending  from  the  Scioux  to  go  to  Tamor 
rois ;  and,  when  seventy  leagues  above,  they  perceived 
nine  canoes  in  the  Mississippi,  in  which  were  ninety 
savages,  who  robbed  and  cruelly  beat  them.  This  party 
were  going  to  war  against  the  Scioux,  and  were  com- 
posed of  four  different  nations,  the  Outagamis  (Foxes), 
Saquis  (Sauks),  Poutouwatamis  (Pottowattamies),  and 
Pauns  (Winnebagoes),  who  dwell  in  a  country  eighty 
leagues  east  of  the  Mississippi  from  where  Le  Sueur 
then  was. 

The  Canadians  determined  to  follow  the  detachment, 
which  was  composed  of  twenty-eight  men.  This  day 
they  made  seven  and  a  half  leagues.  On  the  1st  of  Sep- 
tember, he  passed  the  Wisconsin  river.  It  runs  into  the 
Mississippi  from  the  north-east.  It  is  nearly  one  and 
a  half  miles  wide.  At  about  seventy-five  leagues  up 
this  river,  on  the  right,  ascending,  there  is  a  portage  of 
more  than  a  league.  The  half  of  this  portage  is  shaking 
ground,  and  at  the  end  of  it  is  a  small  river  which 
descends  into  a  bay  called  Winnebago  Bay.  It  is  in- 
habited by  a  great  number  of  nations  who  carry  their 
furs  to  Canada.     Monsieur  Le  Sueur  came  by  the  Wis- 


DAIIKOTAIIS  KOBBED  CANADIANS.  157 

cousin  river  to  the  Mississippi,  for  the  first  time,  in 
1683,  on  his  way  to  the  Scioux  country,  where  he  had 
already  passed  seven  years  at  different  periods.  The 
Mississippi,  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin,  is  less 
than  a  half  mile  wide.  From  the  1st  of  September  to 
the  5th,  our  voyageur  advanced  fourteen  leagues.  He 
passed  the  river  "  Aux  Canots,"  which  comes  from  the 
north-east,  and  then  the  Quincapous,  named  from  a 
nation  which  once  dwelt  upon  its  banks. 

From  the  5th  to  the  9th,  he  made  ten  and  a  half 
leagues,  and  passed  the  Rivers  Cachee  and  Aux  Ailes. 
The  same  day  he  perceived  canoes,  filled  with  savages, 
descending  the  river,  and  the  five  Canadians  recognised 
them  as  the  party  who  had  robbed  them.  They  placed 
sentinels  in  the  wood,  for  fear  of  being  surprised  by 
land ;  and,  when  they  had  approached  within  hearing, 
they  cried  to  them  that  if  they  approached  farther 
they  would  fire.  They  then  "drew  up  by  an  island,  at 
half  the  distance  of  a  gun  shot.  Soon,  four  of  the 
principal  men  of  the  band  approached  in  a  canoe,  and 
asked  if  it  was  forgotten  that  they  were  our  brethren, 
and  with  what  design  we  had  taken  arms  when  we 
perceived  them.  Le  Sueur  replied  that  he  had  cause 
to  distrust  them,  since  they  had  robbed  five  of  his 
party.  Nevertheless,  for  the  surety  of  his  trade,  being 
forced  to  be  at  peace  with  all  the  tribes,  he  demanded 
no  redress  for  the  robbery,  but  added  merely  that  the 
king,  their  master  and  his,  wished  that  his  subjects 
should  navigate  that  river  without  insult,  and  that 
they  had  better  beware  how  they  acted. 

The  Indian  who  had  spolvcn  Avas  silent,  but  another 
said  they  had  been  attacked  by  the  Scioux,  and  that  if 
they  did  not  have  pity  on  them,  and  give  them  a  little 


158  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

powder,  they  should  not  be  able  to  reach  their  village. 
The  consideration  of  a  missionary,  who  was  to  go  up 
among  the  Scioux,  and  whom  these  savages  might  meet, 
induced  them  to  give  two  pounds  of  powder. 

M.  Le  Sueur  made  the  same  day  three  leagues ;  passed 
a  stream  on  the  west,  and  aftenvards  another  river  on 
the  east,  which  is  navigable  at  all  times,  and  which  the 
Indians  call  Red  river. 

On  the  10th,  at  daybreak,  they  heard  an  elk  whistle, 
on  the  other  side  of  the  river.  A  Canadian  crossed  in 
a  small  Scioux  canoe,  which  they  had  found,  and  shortly 
returned  with  the  body  of  the  animal,  which  was  very 
easily  killed,  "  quand  il  est  en  rut,"  that  is  from  the  be- 
ginning of  September  until  the  end  of  October.  The 
hunters  at  this  time  make  a  whistle  of  a  piece  of  wood, 
or  reed,  and  when  they  hear  an  elk  whistle,  they  answer 
it.  The  animal,  beheving  it  to  be  another  elk,  ap- 
proaches, and  is  killed  with  ease. 

From  the  lOtli  to  the  14th,  M.  Le  Sueur  made  seven- 
teen and  a  half  leagues,  passmg  the  rivers  Raisin  and 
Paquilenettes,  (perhaps  the  Wazi  Ozu  and  Buffalo.) 
The  same  day  he  left,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, a  beautiful  and  large  river,  which  descends  from 
the  very  far  north,  and  called  Bon  Secours  (Chippeway), 
on  account  of  the  great  quantity  of  buffalo,  elk,  bears, 
and  deers,  which  are  found  there.  Three  leagues  up 
this  river  there  is  a  mine  of  lead,  and  seven  leagues 
above,  on  the  same  side,  they  found  another  long  river, 
in  the  vicinity  of  which  there  is  a  copper  mine,  from 
which  he  had  taken  a  lump  of  sixty  pounds,  in  a  former 
voyage.  In  order  to  make  these  mmes  of  any  account, 
peace  must  be  obtained  between  the  Scioux  and  Outa- 
gamis  (Foxes),  because  the  latter,  who  dwell  on  the 


LAKE  PEPIN.— CANNON  RIVER.  159 

east  side  of  the  Mississippi,  pass  this  road  continually 
when  going  to  war  against  the  Scioux. 

Li  this  region,  at  one  and  a  half  leagues  on  the  north- 
west side,  commenced  a  lake,  which  is  six  leagues  long 
and  more  than  one  hroad,  called  Lake  Pepin.  It  is 
bounded  on  the  west  by  a  cham  of  mountains ;  on  the 
east  is  seen  a  prairie;  and  on  the  north-west  of  the 
lake  there  is  another  prairie  two  leagues  long  and  one 
wide.  In  the  neighbourhood  is  a  chain  of  mountains 
quite  two  hundred  feet  high,  and  more  than  one  and  a 
half  miles  long.  In  these  are  found  several  caves,  to 
which  the  bears  retire  m  w^inter.  Most  of  the  caverns 
are  more  than  seventy  feet  in  extent,  and  three  or  four 
feet  high.  There  are  several  of  which  tlie  entrance  is 
very  narrow,  and  quite  closed  up  with  saltpetre.  It 
would  be  dangerous  to  enter  them  in  summer,  for  they 
are  filled  with  rattlesnakes,  the  bite  of  which  is  very 
dangerous.  Le  Sueur  saw  some  of  these  snakes  which 
were  six  feet  in  length,  but  generally  the}^  are  about 
four  feet.  They  have  teeth  resembling  those  of  the 
pike,  and  their  gums  are  full  of  small  vessels  in  which 
their  poison  is  placed.  The  Scioux  say  they  take  it 
every  morning,  and  cast  it  away  at  night.  They  have 
at  the  tail  a  kind  of  scale  which  makes  a  noise,  and  this 
is  called  the  rattle. 

Le  Sueur  made  on  this  day  seven  and  a  half  leagues, 
and  passed  another  river  called  Iliambouxecate  Ouataba, 
or  the  River  of  Flat  Rock.^ 

On  the  15th  he  crossed  a  small  river,  and  saw,  in 
the  neighbourhood,  several  canoes  filled  with  Indians, 
descending  the   Mississippi.      He  supposed  they  were 

*  This  is  evidently  the  Inyanbosndata,  or  Cannon  river. 


IGO  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

Scioiix,  because  he  could  not  distinguish  whether  their 
canoes  were  kxrge  or  smalL  The  arms  were  pLaced  in 
readiness,  and  soon  they  heard  the  cry  of  the  savages, 
which  they  are  accustomed  to  raise  when  they  rush 
upon  their  enemies.  He  caused  them  to  })e  answered 
in  the  same  manner;  and,  after  having  placed  all  the 
men  behind  the  trees,  he  ordered  them  not  to  fire  until 
they  were  commanded.  He  remained  on  shore  to  see 
what  movement  the  savages  would  make,  and  perceiving 
that  they  placed  two  on  shore,  on  the  other  side,  where 
from  an  eminence  they  could  ascertain  the  strength  of 
his  forces,  he  caused  the  men  to  pass  and  repass  from 
the  shore  to  the  wood,  in  order  to  make  them  believe 
that  they  were  numerous.  This  ruse  succeeded,  for  as 
soon  as  the  two  descended  from  the  eminence,  the  chief 
of  the  party  came,  bearing  the  calumet,  which  is  a  signal 
of  23eace  among  the  Indians. 

They  said,  that  never  having  seen  the  French  navi- 
gate the  river  with  boats  like  the  felucca,'  they  had 
supposed  them  to  be  English,  and  for  that  reason  they 
had  raised  the  war  cry,  and  arranged  themselves  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Mississippi;  but,  having  recognised 
their  flag,  they  had  come  without  fear  to  inform  them, 
that  one  of  their  number,  who  was  crazy,  had  acci- 
dentally killed  a  Frenchman,  and  that  they  would  go 
and  bring  his  comrade,  who  would  tell  how  the  mischief 
had  happened. 

The  Frenchman  they  brought  was  Denis,  a  Canadian, 
and  he  reported  that  his  companion  was  accidentally 
killed.  His  name  was  Laplace,  a  deserting  soldier  from 
Canada,  who  had  taken  refuge  in  this  country. 

^  The  felucca  is   a   small  vessel     had  never  before  been  seen  on  the 
propelled  both  by  oars  and  sails,  and     waters  of  the  Upper  Mississippi. 


ST.  CROIX  DROWNED.— RIVER  ST.  PIERRE.  IGl 

Le  Sueur  rejDlied,  that  Onontio  (the  name  they  give 
to  all  the  governors  of  Canada),  being  their  father  and 
his,  they  ought  not  to  seek  justification  elsewhere  than 
before  him ;  and  he  advised  them  to  go  and  see  him  as 
soon  as  possible,  and  beg  him  to  wipe  off  the  blood  of 
this  Frenchman  from  their  faces. 

The  party  was  composed  of  forty-seven  men  of  dif- 
ferent nations,  who  dwell  far  to  the  east,  about  the 
forty-fourth  degree  of  latitude.  Le  Sueur,  discovering 
who  the  chiefs  were,  said  the  king  whom  they  had 
spoken  of  in  Canada,  had  sent  him  to  take  possession 
of  the  north  of  the  river;  and  that  he  wished  the 
nations  Avho  dwell  on  it,  as  well  as  those  under  his  pro- 
tection, to  live  in  peace. 

He  made  this  day  three  and  three-fourth  leagues; 
and,  on  the  16th  of  September,  he  left  a  large  river  on 
the  east  side,  named  St.  Croix,  because  a  Frencliman  of 
that  name  teas  sldpwreclxed  at  its  mouth.  It  comes  from 
the  north-north-west.  Four  leagues  higher,  in  going 
up,  is  found  a  small  lake,  at  the  mouth  of  which  is  a 
very  large  mass  of  copper.  It  is  on  the  edge  of  the 
water,  in  a  small  ridge  of  sandy  earth,  on  the  west  of 
this  lake. 

From  the  16th  to  the  19th,  he  advanced  thirteen  and 
three-fourth  leagues.  After  having  made  from  Tamarois 
two  hundred  and  nine  and  a  half  leagues,  he  left  the 
navigation  of  the  Mississippi,  to  enter  the  river  St. 
Pierre,'  on  the  west  side.     By  the  1st  of  October,  he 

^  The  Saint  Pierre,  like  the  Saint  and  prominent  in  the  Indian  affairs 

Croix,  just  below  it,  was  evidently  in  that  age.     Carver,  in    1776,  on 

named  after  a  Frenchman.     Charle-  the  shores  of  Lake  Pepin,  discovered 

voix   speaks   of  an   officer   by  that  the  ruins   of   an   extensive   trading 

name,  who  was  at  Mackinaw  in  1692,  post,  that  had  been  under  the  control 
11 


162  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

had  made  in  this  river  forty-four  and  one-fourth  leagues. 
After  he  entered  into  Blue  river,  thus  named  on  account 
of  the  mines  of  blue  earth  found  at  its  mouth,  he  founded 
his  post,  situated  in  forty-four  degrees,  thirteen  minutes, 
north  latitude.  He  met  at  this  place  nine  Scioux,^  who 
told  him  that  the  river  belonged  to  the  Scioux  of  the 
West,  the  Ayavois  (lowas),  and  Otoctatas  (Ottoes),  who 
lived  a  httle  farther  off;  that  it  was  not  their  custom  to 
hunt  on  ground  belonging  to  others,  unless  invited  to 
do  so  by  the  owners,  and  that  when  they  would  come 
to  the  fort  to  obtain  provisions,  they  would  be  in  danger 
of  being  killed  in  ascendmg  or  descending  the  rivers, 
which  were  narrow,  and  that  if  they  would  show  their 
pity,  he  must  establish  himself  on  the  Mlssissipin,  near  the 
mouth  of  the  St.  Pierre,^  where  the  Ayavois,  the  Otocta- 
tas, and  the  other  Scioux,  could  go  as  well  as  they. 

Having  finished  their  speech,  they  leaned  over  the 
head  of  Le  Sueur,  according  to  their  custom,  crjdng  out, 
"  Ouaechissou  ouaepanimanabo,"  that  is  to  say,  "  Have 
pity  upon  us."  Le  Sueur  had  foreseen  that  the  estar 
blishment  of  Blue  Earth  river,  would  not  please  the 
Scioux  of  the  East,  who  were,  so  to  speak,  masters  of  the 
other  Scioux,  and  of  the  nations  which  will  be  hereafter 
mentioned,  because  they  were  the  first  with  whom  trade 
was  commenced,  and  in  consequence  of  which  they  had 
already  quite  a  number  of  guns. 

As  he  had  commenced  his  operations,  not  only 
with  a  view  to  the  trade  of  beaver,  but  also  to  gain  a 

of  a  Captain  Saint  Pierre,  and  there  Lahontan,  Le  Sueur,  and  the  Jesuits 

is  scarcely  a  doubt  that  Le  Sueur  of  that  period  in  their  relations,  and 

named  the  Minnesota  river  in  honour  it  has  not  been  altered  to  Dahkotah 

of  his  fellow  explorer  and  trader.  in  this  chapter. 
'  Sciocx,  is   the  orthography  of        ^  Neighbourhood  of  Mendota. 


DAHKOTAHS  OF  THE  PLAINS.  163 

knowledge  of  the  mines,  m  hicli  he  had  previously  dis- 
covered, he  told  them  he  was  sorry  that  he  had  not 
known  their  intentions  sooner;  and  that  it  was  just, 
since  he  came  expressly  for  them,  that  he  should  esta- 
hUsh  himself  on  their  land,  but  that  the  season  was  too 
far  advanced  for  him  to  return.  He  then  made  them  a 
present  of  powder,  balls,  and  knives,  and  an  armful  of 
tobacco,  to  entice  them  to  assemble  as  soon  as  possible, 
near  the  fort  which  he  was  about  to  construct,  that 
when  they  should  be  all  assembled  he  might  tell  them 
the  intention  of  the  king,  their  and  his  sovereign. 

The  Scioux  of  the  West,  according  to  the  statement 
of  the  Eastern  Scioux,  have  more  than  a  thousand 
lodges.  They  do  not  use  canoes,  nor  cultivate  the 
earth,  nor  gather  wild  rice.  They  remain  generally  in 
the  prairies,  which  are  between  the  Upper  Mississippi 
and  Missouri  rivers,  and  live  entirely  by  the  chase. 
The  Scioux  generally  say  they  have  three  souls,  and 
that  after  death,  that  which  has  done  well  goes  to  the 
warm  country,  that  which  has  done  evil  to  the  cold 
regions,  and  the  other  guards  the  body.  Polygamj^  is 
common  among  them.  They  are  very  jealous,  and 
sometimes  fight  in  duel  for  their  wives.  They  manage 
the  bow  admirably,  and  have  been  seen  several  times  to 
kill  ducks  on  the  wing.  They  make  their  lodges  of  a 
number  of  buffalo  skins  interlaced  and  sewed,  and  carry 
them  wherever  they  go.  They  are  all  great  smokers, 
but  their  manner  of  smoking  differs  from  that  of  other 
Indians.  There  are  some  Scioux  who  swallow  all  the 
smoke  of  the  tobacco,  and  others  who,  after  having  kept 
it  some  time  in  their  mouth,  cause  it  to  issue  from  the 
nose.  In  each  lodge  there  are  usually  two  or  three 
men  with  their  families. 


164  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

On  the  third  of  October,  they  received  at  the  fort 
several  Scioux,  among  whom  was  Wahkantape,  chief 
of  the  village.  Soon  two  Canadians  arrived  who  had 
been  hunting,  and  had  been  robbed  by  the  Scioux  of 
the  East,  who  had  raised  their  guns  against  the  esta- 
blishment which  M.  Le  Sueur  had  made  on  Blue  Earth 
river. 

On  the  fourteenth  the  fort  was  finished  and  named 
Fort  L'Huillier,^  and  on  the  twenty-second  two  Cana- 
dians were  sent  out  to  invite  the  Ayavois  and  Otoctatas 
to  come  and  establish  a  village  near  the  fort,  because 
these  Indians  are  industrious  and  accustomed  to  culti- 
vate the  earth,  and  they  hoped  to  get  provisions  from 
them,  and  to  make  them  work  in  the  mines. 

On  the  twenty-fourth,  six  Scioux  Oujalespoitons 
wished  to  go  into  the  fort,  but  were  told  that  they  did 
not  receive  men  who  had  killed  Frenchmen.  This  is 
the  term  used  when  they  have  insulted  them.  The 
next  day  they  came  to  the  lodge  of  Le  Sueur  to  beg 
him  to  have  pity  on  them.  They  wished,  according  to 
custom,  to  Aveep  over  his  head  and  make  him  a  present 
of  packs  of  beavers,  which  he  refused.  He  told  them 
he  was  surprised  that  people  who  had  robbed  should 
come  to  him ;  to  which  they  replied  that  they  had  heard 
it  said  that  two  Frenchmen  had  been  robbed,  but  none 
from  their  village  had  been  present  at  that  wicked 
action. 

Le  Sueur  answered,  that  he  knew  it  was  the  Men- 
deoucantons  and  not  the  Oujalespoitons;  "but,"  con- 
tinued he,  "  you  are  Scioux ;  it  is  the  Scioux  who  have 
robbed  me,  and  if  I  were  to  follow  your  manner  of 

^  The  farmer  general  at  Paris  who  had  encouraged  Le  Sueur  in  his  pro- 
jects. 


FSPu.-alarJ'au  JUilr 


ECTI©N©FA  CHART. 

WILLIAM  DE  L'ISLE. 

0/  ihc 

Royal  Academy  of  Sciences. 


LE  SUEUR  FILLS  CANOES  WITH  BLUE  EARTH.      165 

acting,  I  should  break  your  heads ;  for  is  it  not  true, 
that  when  a  stranger  (it  is  thus  thej  call  the  Indians 
who  are  not  Scioux)  has  insulted  a  Scioux,  Mendeou- 
canton,  Oujalespoitons,  or  others — all  the  villages  re- 
venge upon  the  first  one  they  meet  ?" 

As  they  had  nothing  to  answer  to  what  he  said  to 
them,  they  wept  and  repeated,  according  to  custom, 
"  Ouaechissou  !  ouaepanimanabo  !"  Le  Sueur  told  them 
to  cease  crying,  and  added,  that  the  French  had  good 
hearts,  and  that  they  had  come  into  the  country  to  have 
pity  on  them.  At  the  same  time  he  made  them  a  pre- 
sent, saying  to  them,  "Carry  back  your  beavers  and 
say  to  all  the  Scioux,  that  they  will  have  from  me  no 
more  powder  or  lead,  and  they  will  no  longer  smoke 
any  long  pipe  until  they  have  made  satisfaction  for  rob- 
bing the  Frenchman." 

The  same  day  the  Canadians,  who  had  been  sent  off 
on  the  22d,  arrived  without  having  found  the  road 
Avhicli  led  to  the  Ayavois  and  Otoctatas.  On  the  25tli 
Le  Sueur  went  to  the  river  with  three  canoes,  which 
he  filled  with  green  and  blue  earth. ^  It  is  taken  from 
the  hills  near  which  are  very  abundant  mines  of  copper, 
some  of  which  was  worked  at  Paris  in  1696  by  L'Huil- 
lier,  one  of  the  chief  collectors  of  the  king.  Stones  were 
also  found  there,  which  would  be  curious,  if  worked. 

On  the  9  th  of  November,  eight  Mantanton  Scioux 
arrived,  who  had  been  sent  by  their  chiefs  to  say  that 
the  Meiideouccuitons  were  still  at  their  lahe  on  the  east  of 
the  Mississippi,  and  they  could  not  come  for  a  long  time ; 
and  that,  for  a  single  village  which  had  no  good  sense, 

^  The  locality  was  a  branch  of  the    river,  ami  on  a  map  published  in 
Blue  Earth,  about  a  mile  above  the     1773,  the  river  St.  Kemi. 
fort,  called    by  Nicollet  Le  Sueur 


1G6  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

the  others  ought  not  to  bear  the  punishment ;  and  that 
they  were  willing  to  make  reparation  if  they  knew  how. 
Le  Sueur  replied  that  he  was  glad  that  they  had  a  dis- 
position to  do  so. 

On  the  15th  the  two  Mantanton  Scioux,  who  had 
been  sent  expressly  to  say  that  all  of  the  Scioux  of  the 
east,  and  part  of  those  of  the  west,  were  joined  together 
to  come  to  the  French,  because  they  had  heard  that  the 
Christianaux  and  the  Assinipoils  were  making  war  on 
them.  These  two  nations  dwell  above  the  fort  on  the 
east  side,  more  than  eighty  leagues  on  the  Upper  Mis- 
sissippi. 

The  Assinipoils  speak  Scioux,  and  are  certainly  of 
that  nation.  It  is  only  a  few  years  since  that  they  be- 
came enemies.  The  enmity  thus  originated :  The  Chris- 
tianaux, having  the  use  of  arms  before  the  Scioux, 
through  the  English  at  Hudson's  Bay,  they  constantly 
warred  upon  the  Assinipoils,  who  were  their  nearest 
neighbours.  The  latter,  being  weak,  sued  for  peace, 
and  to  render  it  more  lasting,  married  the  Christianaux 
women.  The  other  Scioux,  who  had  not  made  the  com- 
pact, continued  the  war ;  and,  seeing  some  Christianaux 
mth  the  Assinipoils,  broke  their  heads.  The  Chris- 
tianaux furnished  the  Assinipoils  with  arms  and  mer- 
chandise. 

On  the  16  th  the  Scioux  returned  to  their  village,  and 
it  was  reported  that  the  Ayavois  and  Otoctatas  were 
gone  to  establish  themselves  towards  the  Missouri  river, 
near  the  Maha,  who  dwell  in  that  region.  On  the  26th 
the  Mantantons  and  Oujalespoitons  arrived  at  the  fort; 
and,  after  they  had  encamped  in  the  woods,  Wahkan- 
tape^  came  to  beg  Le  Sueur  to  go  to  his  lodge.     He 

^  Wakandapi  or  Esteemed  Sacred,  was  the  name  of  one  of  the  head  men 
at  Red  Wing,  in  1850. 


WEEP  OVER  THE  DEATH  OF  TEEOSKAHTAY.      1G7 

tliere  found  sixteen  men  Avitli  women  and  children, 
■with  their  faces  daubed  with  black.  In  the  middle  of 
the  lodge  were  several  buffalo  skins,  which  were  sewed 
for  a  carpet.  After  motioning  him  to  sit  down,  they 
wept  for  the  fourth  of  an  hour,  and  the  chief  gave  him 
some  wild  rice  to  eat  (as  was  their  custom),  putting  the 
first  three  spoonsful  to  his  mouth.  After  which,  he  said 
all  present  were  relatives  of  Tioscate,^  whom  Le  Sueur 
took  to  Canada  in  1695,  and  who  died  there  in  1696. 

At  the  mention  of  Tioscate  they  began  to  weep  again, 
and  wipe  their  tears  and  heads  upon  the  shoulders  of 
Le  Sueur.  Then  Wahkantape  again  spoke,  and  said  that 
Tioscate  begged  him  to  forget  the  insult  done  to  the 
Frenchmen  by  the  Mendeoucantons,  and  take  pity  on 
his  brethren  b}'  giving  them  powder  and  balls  whereby 
they  could  defend  themselves,  and  gain  a  living  for  their 
wives  and  children,  who  languish  in  a  country,  full  of 
game,  because  they  had  not  the  means  of  killing  them. 
"  Look,"  added  the  chief,  "  Behold  thy  children,  th}' 
brethren,  and  thy  sisters ;  it  is  to  thee  to  see  whether 
thou  wishest  them  to  die.  They  will  live  if  thou  givest 
them  powder  and  ball ;  they  will  die  if  thou  refusest." 

Le  Sueur  granted  them  their  request,  but  as  the 
Scioux  never  answer  on  the  spot,  especially  in  matters 
of  importance,  and  as  he  had  to  speak  to  them  about 
his  establishment,  he  went  out  of  the  lodge  without 
saying  a  word.  The  chief  and  all  those  within  followed 
him  as  far  as  the  door  of  the  fort ;  and  when  he  had 
gone  in,  they  went  around  it  three  times,  crying  with 
all  their  strength,  "  Atheouanan !"  that  is  to  say, 
"  Father,  have  pity  on  us."  (Ate  unyanpi,  means  Our 
Father.) 

^  Teeoskahtoy. 


lOS  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

The  next  day,  he  assembled  in  the  fort  the  principal 
men  of  ]x)th  villages ;  and  as  it  is  not  possible  to  subdue 
the  Scioux  or  to  hinder  them  from  going  to  war,  unless 
it  be  by  inducing  them  to  cultivate  the  earth,  he  said  to 
them  that  if  they  wished  to  render  themselves  worthy 
of  the  protection  of  the  king,  they  must  abandon  their 
erring  life,  and  form  a  village  near  his  dwelling,  where 
they  would  be  shielded  from  the  insults  of  their  ene- 
mies ;  and  that  they  might  be  happy  and  not  hungry, 
he  would  give  them  all  the  corn  necessary  to  plant  a 
large  piece  of  ground ;  that  the  king,  their  and  his  chief, 
in  sending  him,  had  forbidden  him  to  purchase  beaver 
skins,  knowing  that  this  kind  of  hunting  separates  them 
and  exposes  them  to  their  enemies ;  and  that  in  conse- 
quence of  this  he  had  come  to  establish  himself  on  Blue 
river  and  vicinity,  where  they  had  many  times  assured 
him  were  many  kinds  of  beasts,  for  the  skins  of  which 
he  would  give  them  all  things  necessary;  that  they 
ought  to  reflect  that  they  could  not  do  without  French 
goods,  and  that  the  only  way  not  to  want  them  was,  not 
to  go  to  war  with  our  allied  nations. 

As  it  is  customary  with  the  Indians  to  accompany 
their  word  with  a  present  proportioned  to  the  affair 
treated  of,  he  gave  them  fifty  pounds  of  powder,  as  many 
balls,  six  guns,  ten  axes,  twelve  armsful  of  tobacco,  and 
a  hatchet  pipe. 

On  the  first  of  December,  the  Mantantons  invited  Le 
Sueur  to  a  great  feast.  Of  four  of  their  lodges  they 
had  made  one,  in  which  were  one  hundred  men  seated 
around,  and  every  one  his  dish  before  him.  After  the 
meal,  Wahkantape,  the  chief,  made  them  all  smoke  one 
after  another  in  the  hatchet  pipe  Avhich  had  been  given 
them.     He  then  made  a  present  to  Le  Sueur  of  a  slave 


M'DEWAKANTONWAN  CHIEFS  AT  BLUE  EARTH  FORT.      1G9 

and  a  sack  of  wild  rice,  and  said  to  him,  showing  him 
his  men :  "  Behold  the  remains  of  this  great  village, 
which  thou  hast  aforetimes  seen  so  numerous !  all  the 
others  have  been  killed  in  war ;  and  the  few  men  whom 
thou  seest  in  this  lodge,  accept  the  present  thou  hast 
made  them,  and  are  resolved  to  obey  the  great  chief  of 
all  nations,  of  whom  thou  hast  spoken  to  us.  Thou 
oughtest  not  to  regard  us  as  Scioux,  but  as  French,  and 
instead  of  saying  the  Scioux  are  miserable,  and  have  no 
mind,  and  are  fit  for  nothing  but  to  rob  and  steal  from 
the  French,  thou  shalt  say  my  brethren  are  miserable 
and  have  no  mind,  and  we  must  try  to  procure  some  for 
them.  They  rob  us,  but  I  will  take  care  that  they  do 
not  lack  iron,  that  is  to  say,  all  kinds  of  goods.  If 
thou  dost  this,  I  assure  thee  that  in  a  little  time,  the 
Mantantons  will  become  Frenchmen,  and  they  will  have 
none  of  those  vices  with  wliich  thou  reproachest  us." 

Having  finished  his  speech,  he  covered  his  face  with 
his  garment,  and  the  others  imitated  him.  They  wept 
over  their  companions  who  had  died  in  war,  and  chanted 
an  adieu  to  their  country  in  a  tone  so  gloomy,  that  one 
could  not  keep  from  partaking  of  their  sorrow. 

Wahkantape  then  made  them  smoke  again,  and  dis- 
tributed the  presents,  and  said  that  he  was  going  to  the 
Mendeoucantons,  to  inform  them  of  the  resolution,  and 
invite  them  to  do  the  same. 

On  the  twelfth,  three  Mendeoucanton  chiefs  and  a 
large  number  of  Indians  of  the  same  village,  arrived  at 
the  fort,  and  the  next  day  gave  satisfaction  for  robbing 
the  Frenchmen.  They  brought  400  pounds  of  beaver 
skins,  and  promised  that  the  summer  following,  after 
their  canoes  were  built  and  they  had  gathered  their  wild 
rice,  that  they  would  come  and   establish  themselves 


170  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

near  the  French.     The  same  day  they  returned  to  their 
village  east  of  the  Mississippi. 

NAMES  OF  THE  BANDS  OF  SCIOUX  OF  THE  EAST,  WITH  THEIR 
SIGNIFICATION. 

Mantantons — That  is  to  say,  Village  of  the  Great 
Lake  which  empties  into  a  small  one. 

Mendeoucantons — Village  of  Spirit  Lake. 

QuioPETONS — Village  of  the  Lake  with  one  River. 

PsiouMANiTONS — Village  of  Wild  Rice  Gatherers. 

OuADEBATONS. — The  Rivcr  Village. 

OuATEMANETONS. — Village  of  the  Tribe  who  dwell  on 
the  Point  of  the  Lake. 

SoNGASQUiTONS — The  Brave  Village. 

THE  SCIOUX  OF  THE  WEST. 

ToucHOUAsiNTONS — The  Village  of  the  Pole. 

PsiNCHATONS — Village  of  the  Red  Wild  Rice. 

OuJALESPOiTONS — Village  divided  into  many  small 
Bands. 

PsiNOUTANHHiNTONS — The  Great  Wild  Rice  Village. 

TiNTANGAOUGHiATONS — The  Grand  Lodge  Village. 

OuAPETONS — Village  of  the  Leaf. 

OuGHETGEODATONS — Dung  Village. 

OuAPETONTETONS — Village  of  those  who  Shoot  in  the 
Large  Pine. 

HiNHANETONS — Village  of  the  Red  Stone  Quarry. 

The  above  catalogue  of  villages  concludes  the  extract 
that  La  Harpe  has  made  from  Le  Sueur's  Journal.^ 

^  The  "  History  of  Louisiana,  by  nal,  and   deposited   among  the  ar- 

La  Harpe,"  who  was  a  French  offi-  chives  of  the  American  Philosophi- 

cer,  remained  in  manuscript  more  cal   Society,  from  which  a  few  ex- 

than  one  hundred  years.    In  1805,  tracts  were  published  by  Professor 

a  copy  was  taken  from  the  origi-  Keating,  in  his  narrative  of  Major 


D'IBERVILLE'S  MANUSCRIPT.  171 

In  the  narrative  of  Major  Long's  second  expedition, 
there  are  just  the  same  number  of  viUages  of  the  Gens 
du  Lac  or  M'dewakantonwan  Scioux  mentioned,  though 
the  names  are  different.  After  leaving  the  Mille  Lac 
region,  the  divisions  evidently  Avere  different,  and  the 
callages  known  by  new  names. 

Charlevoix,  who  visited  the  valley  of  the  Lower  Mis- 
sissippi in  1722,  says  that  Le  Sueur  spent  a  winter  in  his 
fort  on  the  banks  of  the  Blue  Earth ;  and  that  in  the 
following  April  he  went  up  to  the  mine  about  a  mile 
above.  In  twenty-two  days  they  obtained  more  than 
thirty  thousand  pounds  of  the  substance,  four  thousand 
of  which  were  selected  and  sent  to  France. 

On  the  tenth  of  February,  1702,  Le  Sueur  came  back 
to  the  post  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  found  D'Iberville 
absent,  who,  however,  arrived  on  the  eighteenth  of  the 
next  month,  with  a  ship  from  France,  loaded  with  sup- 
plies. After  a  few  weeks,  the  Governor  of  Louisiana 
sailed  again  for  the  old  country,  Le  Sueur  being  a  fellow 
passenger. 

On  board  of  the  ship,  D'Iberville  wrote  a  memorial 
upon  the  Mississippi  Valley,  with  suggestions  for  carry- 
ing on  commerce  therein,  which  contams  many  facts 
furnished  by  Le  Sueur.  A  copy  of  the  manuscript  is 
in  possession  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Minnesota, 
from  which  are  the  following  extracts : — 

"  If  the  Sioux  remain  in  their  own  country  they  are 
useless  to  us,  being  too  dis^tant.  We  could  have  no 
commerce  with  them  except  that  of  the  beaver.     M. 

Long's  expedition.   In  the  year  1831,  tion  of  that  part  which  pertains  to 

the  original  was  published  at  Paris,  Minnesota,  appeared  in  a  St.  Paul 

for   the   first  time,   in   the   French  newspaper  in  1850. 
language.    The  first  English  transla- 


172  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

Le  Sueur,  icho  goes  to  France  to  give  an  account  of  this 
country,  is  the  proper  person  to  make  these  movements. 
He  estimates  the  Sioux  at  four  thousand  families,  who. 
could  settle  upon  the  Missouri. 

"  He  has  spoken  to  me  of  another  which  he  calls  the 
Mahas,  composed  of  more  than  twelve  hundred  famiUes, 
the  Ayooues  (loways)  and  the  Octoctatas  their  neigh- 
bours, are  about  three  hundred  families.  They  occupy 
the  lands  between  the  Mississippi  and  the  Missouri, 
about  one  hundred  leagues  from  the  IlUnois.  These 
savages  do  not  know  the  use  of  arms,  and  a  descent 
might  be  made  upon  them  in  a  river,  which  is  beyond 
the  Wabash  on  the  west.    *******    *    *    * 

"  The  Assinibouel,  Quenistinos,  and  people  of  the 
North,  who  are  upon  the  rivers  which  fall  into  the 
Mississippi,  and  trade  at  Fort  Nelson  (Hudson  Bay), 
are  about  four  hundred  men.  We  could  prevent  them 
from  going  there  if  we  wish." 

"  In  four  or  five  years  we  can  establish  a  commerce 
with  these  savages  of  sixty  or  eighty  thousand  buffalo 
skins ;  more  than  one  hundred  deer  skins,  which  will 
produce,  delivered  in  France,  more  than  two  million 
four  hundred  thousand  livres  yearly.  One  might  obtain 
for  a  buffalo  skin  four  or  five  pounds  of  wool,  which 
sells  for  twenty  sous,  two  pound  of  coarse  hair  at  ten 
sous. 

'•  Besides,  from  smaller  peltries,  two  hundred  thou- 
sand hvres  can  be  made  yearly." 

In  the  third  volume  of  the  "  History  and  Statistics 
of  the  Indian  Tribes,"  prepared  under  the  direction  of 
the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  by  Mr.  Schoolcraft. 
a  manuscript,  a  copy  of  which  is  in  possession  of  General 
Cass,  is  referred  to  as  containing  the  first  enumeration 


EARLIEST  CENSUS  OF  INDIANS  OF  MISSISSIPPI  VALLEY.   173 


of  the  Indians  of  the  MississipjDi  Valley, 
was  made  thirtj-four  years  earlier  : — 


The  following 


'The  Sioux,        .     Families,  4,000 

Mahas, 12,000 

Octata  and  Ayoues,  .     .     .  300 

Canses,  (Kansas),      .     .     .  1,500 

Missouri, 1,500 

Arkansas,  &c,,       ....  200 

Manton,  (Mandan)    ...  100 

Panis,  (Pawnee)  ....  2,000 
Illinois,  of  the  great  village 

andCamaroua  (Tamaroa)  800 
Meosiganiea,  (Metchigamias)     200 

Kikapous  and  Mascoutens,  450 

Miamis 500 

Chactas 4,000 


Chicachas, 2,000 

Mobiliens  and  Chohomes,  .  350 

Concaques,  (Conchas)    .     .  2,000 

Ouma,  (Iloumas)       .     .     .  150 

Colapissa, 250 

Bayogoula, 100 

People  of  the  Fork,    ...  200 

Counica,  &c.,  (Tonicas)      .  300 

Caensa,  (Taensa)       .     .     .  150 

Nadeches, 1,500 

Belochy,  (Biloxi)  Pascoboula.    100 


Total, 23,850 


"  The  savage  tribes  located  in  the  places  I  have 
marked  out,  make  it  necessary  to  establish  three  posts 
on  the  Mississippi.  One  at  the  Arkansas,  another  at 
the  Wabash  (Ohio),  and  the  third  at  the  Missouri.  At 
each  post  it  would  be  proper  to  have  an  officer  with  a 
detachment  of  ten  soldiers,  with  a  sergeant  and  corporal. 
All  Frenchmen  should  be  allowed  to  settle  there  with 
their  families,  and  trade  with  the  Indians,  and  they 
might  establish  tanneries  for  properly  dressing  the 
buffalo  and  deer  skins  for  transportation. 

"No  Frenchman  shall  be  allowed  to  follaio  the  Indians 
on  their  hunts,  as  it  teyids  to  Iceep  them  hunters,  as  is  seen 
in  Canada,  and  when  they  are  in  the  woods  they  do 
not  desire  to  become  tillers  of  the  soil.  ***** 

"  I  have  said  nothing  in  this  memoir  of  which  I  have 
not  personal  knowledge  or  the  most  reliable  sources. 
The  most  of  what  I  propose  is  founded  upon  personal 
reflection,  in  relation  to  what  might  be  done  for  the 
defence  and  advancement  of  the  colony.     '='     '^'      *      ''' 


174  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

:•:  *  *  j^  ^^^Y  be  absolutely  necessary  that  the  king 
should  define  the  limits  of  this  country,  in  relation  to 
the  government  of  Canada.  It  is  important  that  the 
commandant  of  the  Mississippi  should  have  a  report  of 
those  who  inhabit  the  rivers  that  fall  into  the  Mississippi, 
and  principally  those  of  the  river  Illinois. 

'•  The  Canadians  intimate  to  the  savages  that  they 
ought  not  to  listen  to  us,  but  to  the  governor  of  Canada, 
who  always  speaks  to  them  with  large  presents ;  that 
the  governor  of  the  Mississippi  is  mean,  and  never 
sends  them  anything.  This  is  true,  and  what  I  cannot 
do.  It  is  imprudent  to  accustom  the  savages  to  be 
spoken  to  by  presents,  for,  Avith  so  many,  it  would  cost 
the  king  more  than  the  revenue  derived  from  the  trade. 
When  they  come  to  us,  it  will  be  necessary  to  bring 
them  in  subjection,  make  them  no  presents,  and  compel 
them  to  do  what  we  wish,  as  if  they  were  Frenchmen. 

"  The  Spaniards  have  divided  the  Indians  into  parties 
on  this  point,  and  we  can  do  the  same.  When  one 
nation  does  wrong,  we  can  cease  to  trade  with  them, 
and  threaten  to  draw  down  the  hostility  of  other 
Indians.  We  rectify  the  difficulty  by  having  mission- 
aries, who  will  bring  them  into  obedience  secretly. 

"  The  Illinois  and  Mascoutens  have  detained  the 
French  canoes  they  find  upon  the  Mississippi,  saying 
that  the  governors  of  Canada  have  given  them  pennis- 
sion.  I  do  not  know  whether  this  is  so,  but,  if  true,  it 
follows  that  we  have  not  the  liberty  to  send  any  one 
on  the  Mississippi. 

"M.  Le  Sueur  would  have  been  taken  if  he  had  not 
been  the  strongest.  Only  one  of  the  canoes  he  sent  to 
the  Sioux  was  plundered."     *     ♦     hj     ♦     *     ^ 

On  the  third  of  March,  1703,  the  workmen  left  at 


RETUnX  OF  WORKMEN  FROM  MAHKAHTO.       175 

Mahkalito  returned  to  Mobile,  having  left  Minnesota 
on  account  of  the  hostiUty  of  the  Indians,  and  the  want 
of  means. 

Le  Sueur,  on  his  return  from  France,  does  not  appear 
to  have  visited  Minnesota.  His  name  appears  in  the 
history  of  Louisiana  as  a  leader  of  expeditions  against 
the  Natchez  and  other  southern  tribes.  It  is  said  that 
he  died  on  the  road  while  passmg  through  the  colony 
of  Louisiana.^ 

^  La  Harpe. 


176  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the 
Dahkotahs  were  still  dwelling  at  the  Spirit  Lake,  east 
of  the  Mississippi;  but  influences  were  begmning  to 
operate,  which  eventually  led  to  dislodgment  from  their 
ancient  stronghold. 

When  the  French  traders  first  visited  Green  Bay, 
they  found  the  Sauks  a  fierce  and  haughty  people, 
wandering  about  the  country  between  the  head  waters 
of  the  Fox  and  Chippeway  rivers.  Below  them,  and 
above  the  Illinois,  resided  the  Fox  or  Outagami  nation,^ 
with  whom  they  were  closelj^  allied  by  intermarriage. 
The  French,  from  the  first,  seemed  to  be  unsuccessful 
in  obtaming  their  good-will,  the  early  voyageurs  having 
Ijehaved  themselves  as  bandits  rather  than  civilized  men. 

In  the  year  1700  the  Sauks  and  Foxes  were  defeated 
in  a  contest  with   the    Dahkotahs  and  loways;    and 

'  The   Ojibways   assert   that  the  statement.    "  The  Foxes  are  eighteen 

Fuxes, before  theirincorporation with  leagues  from  the  Sacs,  they  number 

the    Sauks,    spoke   a   different   Ian-  five  hundred  men,  abound  in  women 

guage,  and  they  called  them  "  0-dug-  and  children,  are  as  industrious  as 

uum-eeg,"  or  people  of  the  opposite  they  can  be,  and  have  a  different 

side.  language   from   the   Ottawas.      An 

A  French  memoir  on  the  Indians  Ottawa  interpreter  would  be  of  no 

between  Lake  Erie  and  Mississippi,  use  with   the  Foxes."     Paris   Doc. 

prepared    in    1718,    confirms    this  vii.  in  N.  Y.  C.  II.  vol.  ix. 


ATTACK  OF  FOXES  ON  DETROIT:  177 

shortly  after  this  they  began  to  manifest  open  hostility 
against  the  French.  Under  the  direction  of  the  noted 
warriors  Lamina  and  Pemoussa,  they  marched  to  the 
post  at  Detroit,  which  was  the  key  to  the  commerce  of 
the  upper  lakes,  with  the  intention  of  exterminating 
the  small  garrison  of  thirty  men,  and  delivering  the 
post  to  the  English,  who,  from  the  year  1687,  had  been 
looking  wistfully  towards  the  beautiful  peninsula  which 
now  comprises  the  commonwealth  of  Michigan. 

For  days  they  prowled  around  the  rude  stockade, 
watching  every  opportunity  for  insult  and  murder. 

To  prevent  the  burning  of  the  post,  Du  Buisson,  the 
commander,  ordered  the  chapel,  storehouse,  and  other 
outbuildings  to  be  destroyed. 

After  a  few  days  De  Vincennes  and  eight  Frenchmen 
arrived,  but  brought  no  news  that  was  cheering ;  and 
the  commander,  in  his  despatch  to  the  governor  of 
Canada,  admits  his  alarm,  and  writes,  "  I  did  not  know 
on  what  saint  to  call." 

The  hour  now  came  for  decided  action.  The  gates 
of  the  little  fort  were  closed  ;  the  garrison  divided  into 
four  companies  ;  arms  and  ammunition  duly  inspected  ; 
two  swivels,  mounted  on  logs,  loaded  with  slugs;  all 
were  waiting,  with  anxious  impatience,  for  the  attack 
to  commence,  when  the  commander,  ascending  the 
bastion,  descried  a  friendly  force  of  Osages,  Missouris, 
Illinois,  and  other  allies,  issuing  from  the  forest.  The 
gates  being  thrown  open,  they  were  warmly  greeted. 

A  moment's  silence,  a  terrific  war-whoop,  that  made 
the  very  earth  tremble,  and  the  battle  began  in  earnest, 
and  murderous  missiles  flew  like  hail-stones.  To  pro- 
tect themselves  from  the  fire  of  the  fort,  the  Sauks  and 
Foxes  dug  holes  in  the  ground,  but  they  were  soon 

12 


178  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

besieged.  After  being  surrounded  for  nineteen  days, 
they  succeeded  in  making  their  escape,  on  a  dark  and 
rainy  night,  after  the  attacking  party  were  asleep.  The 
discovery  was  not  made  till  morning,  when  they  were 
found  at  Presque  Isle,  near  Lake  St.  Clair.  The  fight 
was  here  renewed,  and  the  Foxes  were  thoroughly  de- 
feated, losing  about  one  thousand  men,  women,  and 
children." 

Maddened  by  their  want  of  success,  they  came  back 
with  the  portion  of  the  Sauks  who  were  their  allies  to 
their  residence  in  Wisconsin,  and  revenged  themselves 
by  scalping  every  French  trader  they  could  find,  and 
waging  war  on  the  Ojibways  and  other  tribes  who  had 
aided  the  French. 

Travel  to  Louisiana  by  way  of  the  Wisconsin  river 
was  entirely  cutoff;  and  in  1714  the  governor  of  Ca- 
nada determined  to  subdue  or  exterminate  them.  A 
force  of  eight  hundred  men  marched  to  their  villages, 
and  the  Foxes,  under  the  pressure  of  necessity,  formed 
a  friendly  alliance  with  their  old  foes,  the  Dahkotahs 
of  Minnesota.  The  invading  army  found  the  foe,  to 
the  number  of  five  hundred  men  and  three  thousand 
women,  strongly  intrenched.  De  Louvigny,  the  com- 
mander, planted  his  field  pieces  and  a  grenade  mortar, 
and  began  the  attack ;  but  the  Foxes  soon  capitulated, 
and  six  hostages  were  given  by  them  as  security  for  the 
presence  of  their  deputies  at  Montreal,  to  perfect  the 
terms  of  the  treaty.  While  at  Montreal,  Pemoussa,  the 
great  warrior,  and  others  of  the  hostages,  died  of  small- 
pox. 

Fearing  that  this  calamity  might  defeat  the  arrange- 

^  This  must  be  an  exaggeration  of  the  French  report,  from  which  the 
facts  were  obtained. 


PREDICTION  IN  RELATION  TO  ENGLISH  MASTERY.         179 

ments  for  the  final  treaty,  De  Louvigii}'  was  sent  to 
Mackinaw  Avitli  one  of  the  hostages,  who  had  recovered 
from  the  small-pox  with  the  loss  of  one  eye.  Arriving 
in  May,  1717,  he  despatched  the  one-eyed  chief  with 
suitable  presents  to  cover  the  dead.  The  Fox  chiefs 
promised  to  comply  with  the  provisions  of  the  original 
capitulation,  and  the  pock-marked  warrior  departed  for 
Mackinaw,  with  the  interpreter,  but  he  soon  eloped, 
and  in  a  little  while  the  truce-breaking  Foxes  were 
again  shedding  blood.  They  not  only  harassed  the 
French,  but  leagued  with  the  Chickasaws  of  the  south, 
as  well  as  the  fierce  Dahkotahs  of  the  north. 

For  a  number  of  3ears  the  French  government  had 
discountenanced  traders  dwelling  with  the  Lidians  west 
of  Mackinaw,  and  the  old  license  system  was  abolished. 
But,  in  1726,  it  was  observed  that  the  English  were 
obtaining  such  an  influence  over  the  distant  nations, 
that,  to  counteract  it,  the  licensing  of  traders  to  dwell 
among  the  upper  tribes  was  renewed. 

A  despatch  on  this  point,  made  a  prediction,  which 
has  been  fully  verified  : — 

''  From  all  that  precedes,  it  is  more  and  more  obvious, 
that  the  English  are  endeavouring  to  interlope  among 
all  the  Indian  nations,  and  to  attach  them  to  them- 
selves. They  entertain  constantly-  the  idea  of  becoming 
masters  of  North  America^  persuaded  that  the  European 
nation  which  will  be  possessor  of  that  section,  will,  in 
course  of  time,  he  also  master  of  all  America,  because  it 
is  there  alone  that  men  live  in  health,  and  produce  strong 
and  robust  childroi." 

To  thwart  them  it  was  proposed  to  restore  the  twenty- 
five  licenses  for  trading,  which  had  been  suppressed,  by 
which  seventy-five  "  coureurs  des  bois"  would  proceed 


180  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

annually  to  the  upper  tribes,  and  be  absent  eighteen 
months ;  also,  to  aJDolish  the  prohibitory  liquor  law,  which 
had  been  enacted  through  the  influence  of  the  mission- 
aries. The  argument  in  favour  of  this  measure  was  in 
these  words : — 

"  'Tis  true,  that  the  Indians  are  crazy  when  drunk, 
and  when  they  have  once  tasted  brandy,  that  they  give 
all  they  possess  to  obtain  some  more,  and  drink  it  to 
excess. 

"  Missionaries  will  complain  that  this  permission  de- 
stroys the  Indians  and  the  religion  among  them.  But, 
apart  from  the  fact  that  they  will  always  have  rum 
from  the  English,  the  question  is,  whether  it  be  better 
that  the  English  penetrate  into  the  continent  by  favour 
of  that  rum,  which  attracts  the  Indians  to  them,  than  to 
suffer  the  French  to  furnish  them  with  liquor  in  order 
to  preserve  these  nations,  and  to  prevent  them  declaring 
eventually  in  favour  of  the  English."' 

In  view  of  the  troubles  among  the  tribes  of  the  north- 
west, in  the  month  of  September,  1718,  Captain  St. 
Pierre,  who  had  great  influence  with  the  Indians  of 
Wisconsin  and  Minnesota,  was  sent  with  Ensign  Linctot 
and  some  soldiers  to  re-occupy  La  Pointe  on  Lake  Supe- 
rior, now  Bayfield,  in  the  north-western  point  of  Wis- 
consin. The  chiefs  of  the  band  there  and  at  Keweenaw, 
had  threatened  war  against  the  Foxes,  who  had  killed 
some  of  their  number. 

On  the  seventh  of  June,  1726,  peace  was  concluded 
by  De  Lignery  with  the  Sauks,  Foxes,  and  Winneba- 
goes,  at  Green  Bay ;  and,  Linctot,  who  had  succeeded 
Saint  Pierre  in  command  at  La  Pointe,  was  ordered,  by 

1  Written  May  7th,  1726. 


LINCTOT  AT  LA  POINTE.  181 

presents  and  the  promise  of  a  missionary,  to  endeavour 
to  detach  the  Dahkotahs  from  their  alHance  with  the 
Foxes.  At  this  tune  Linctot  made  arrangements  for 
peace  between  the  Ojibways  and  Dahkotahs,  and  sent 
two  Frenchmen  to  dwell  in  the  villages  of  the  latter, 
with  a  promise  that,  if  they  ceased  to  fight  the  Ojil> 
ways,  they  should  have  regular  trade,  and  a  "  black 
robe"  reside  in  their  country. 

The  Ojibways,  after  the  treaty,  came  do^vn  to  Mon- 
treal, and  were  thus  addressed  by  Longeuil,^  the  gover- 
nor: — 

"  I  am  rejoiced,  my  children  of  the  Sauteurs,  at  the 
peace  which  Monsieur  De  Linctot  has  procured  for  you 
with  the  Sioux,  your  neighbours,  and  also  on  account 
of  the  prisoners  you  have  restored  to  them.  I  desire 
him,  in  the  letter  which  I  now  give  you,  my  son  Cabina, 
for  him,  that  he  maintain  this  peace,  and  support  the 
happy  reunion  which  now  appears  to  exist  between 
the  Sioux  and  you.  I  hope  he  will  succeed  in  it,  if  you 
are  attentive  to  his  words,  and  if  you  follow  the  lights 
which  he  will  show  you. 

"  My  heart  is  sad  on  account  of  the  blows  which  the 
Foxes  of  Green  Bay  have  given  you,  of  which  you  have 
just  spoken,  and  of  which  the  commandant  has  written 
in  his  letter.  It  appears  to  me  that  Heaven  has  revenged 
you  for  your  losses,  since  it  has  given  you  the  flesh  of  a 
young  Fox  to  eat.  You  have  done  well  to  listen  to  the 
words  of  your  commandant  to  keep  quiet,  and  respect 
the  words  of  your  Father. 

"  It  would  not  have  been  good  to  embroil  the  whole 
land  in  order  to  revenge  a  blow  struck  by  people  with- 

'  The  Baron  Longcuil,  was  Charles  Le  Moync,  a  native  of  Canada.     He 
died  in  1729. 


182  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

out  sense  or  reason,  who  have  no  authority  m  their  own 
^-illages. 

"•  I  invite  you  by  this  tobacco,  my  children,  to  remain 
in  tranquillity  in  your  lodges,  awaiting  the  news  of  what 
shall  be  decided  in  the  council  at  the  bay  (Green  Bay), 
by  the  commandant  of  Mackinaw. 

"■  There  is  coming  from  France  a  new  Father,  who  will 
not  fail  to  inform  you,  as  soon  as  he  shall  be  able  to  take 
measures  and  stop  the  bad  affair  which  the  Foxes  wish 
to  cause  in  future. 

"  And  to  convince  you,  my  children,  of  the  interest 
I  take  in  your  loss,  here  are  two  blankets,  two  shirts, 
and  two  pairs  of  leggings,  to  cover  the  bodies  of  those 
of  your  children  who  have  been  killed,  and  to  stop  the 
blood  which  has  been  spilled  upon  your  mats.  I  add  to 
this,  four  shirts  to  staunch  the  wounds  of  those  who 
have  been  hurt  in  this  miserable  affray,  with  a  package 
of  tobacco  to  comfort  the  minds  of  your  young  men,  and 
also  to  cause  them  to  think  hereafter  of  good  things,  and 
wholly  to  forget  bad  ones. 

"  This  is  what  I  exhort  3'ou  all,  my  children,  while 
waiting  for  news  from  your  new  Father,  and  also  to  be 
always  attentive  to  the  words  of  the  French  command- 
ant, who  now  smokes  his  pipe  in  security  among  you." 

The  Foxes  again  proved  faithless,  having  received 
belts  from  the  English,  and  determined  to  attack  the 
French.  The  authorities  at  Quebec  now  determined  to 
send  a  regular  army  into  their  country.  Their  prepara- 
tions were  kept  secret;  for,  says  Beauhamois,  "they 
already  had  an  assurance  of  a  passage  into  the  country 
of  the  Sioux  of  the  Prairies,  their  allies,  in  subh  a  man- 
ner, that  if  they  had  known  of  our  design  of  making 
war,  it  would  have  been  easy  to  have  withdrawn  in 


FREXCII  RE  ESTABLISHED  AT  LAKE  PEPIN'.  183 

that  direction,  before  we  could  block  up  the  wa}-  and 
attack  them  in  their  town^." 

To  hem  in  the  Fox  nation  as  much  as  possible,  Fort 
Perrot,  or  a  site  a  few  miles  above,  on  the  shores  of 
Lake  Pepin,  was  re-occupied.^  Shortly  after  the  arrival 
of  the  French,  the  Indians  moved  off,  and  joined  the 
Dahkotahs  of  the  Plains,  in  a  war  with  the  Omahaws. 

The  governor  of  Canada  felt  that  the  occupancy  of 
this  post  was  of  vital  importance.  In  a  despatch  to  the 
French  government  he  .eloquently  urges  his  views  : — 

"  The  interests  of  religion,  of  the  service,  and  of  the 
colony  are  involved  in  the  maintenance  of  this  establish- 
ment, which  has  been  the  more  necessary  as  there  is  no 
doubt  but  the  Foxes,  when  routed,  would  have  found  an 
asylum  among  the  Scioux,  had  not  the  French  been  set- 
tled tliere,  and  the  docility  and  submission  manifested 
by  the  Foxes  cannot  be  attributed  to  any  cause  except 
the  attention  entertained  by  the  Scioux  for  the  French, 
and  the  offers  which  the  former  made  the  latter,  of 
which  the  Foxes  were  fully  cognisant. 

"  It  is  necessary  to  retain  the  Scioux  in  these  favour- 
able dispositions,  in  order  to  keep  the  Foxes  in  check, 

J"  The  furt  the  French  built  among  Col.  D.  vol.  ix.,  p.  lOlG.     The  fort 

the  Scioux  on  the   border  of  Lake  seems  to  be  higher  up  than  Perrot's, 

Pepin,  appears  to  be  badly  situated  and  was  built  by  Laperriere.     Pike 

on  account  of  the  freshets.     But  the  in  his  journal  appears  to  have  this 

Indians  assure  that  the  waters  rose  fort  in  view,  when  he  says :   "Just 

higher  in  1727  than  it  ever  did  before;  below   the    (point  of  sand)    Ft.  de 

and  this  is  credible,  inasmuch  as  it  Sable,  the  French,  under  Frontenac, 

did  not  reach  the  fort  this  year.     *  *  who  had  driven  the   Renards  from 

*  *  *  As  the  waters  might  possibly  the  Wisconsin,  and  chased  them  up 

rise  as  high  as  1727,  this  fort  could  the  Mississippi  river,  built  a  stockade 

be  removed  foifr  or  five  arpcnts  from  on  this  lake  (Pepin),  as  a  barrier 

the  shore  without   prejudice  to  the  against  the  savages.     It  became  a 

views  entertained  in  building  it  on  noted  factory  for  the  Sioux." 
its  present  site.     Paris  Doc.  N.  Y. 


184  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

and  counteract  the  measures  they  might  adopt  to  gain 
over  the  Scioux,  who  will  invariably  reject  their  propo- 
sitions so  long  as  the  French  remain  in  the  country,  and 
their  trading  post  shall  continue  there.  But,  despite  all*' 
these  advantages  and  the  importance  of  j)reserving  that 
establishment,  M.  de  'Beauharnois  cannot  take  any 
steps  until  he  has  news  of  the  French  who  asked  his 
permission  this  summer  to  go  up  there  with  a  canoe 
load  of  goods,  and  until  assured  that  those  who  wintered 
there  have  not  dismantled  the  fort,  and  that  the  Scioux 
continue  in  the  same  sentiments.  Besides,  it  does  not 
seem  very  easy  in  the  present  conjuncture,  to  maintain 
that  post,  unless  there  be  a  solid  peace  with  the  Foxes ; 
on  the  other  hand,  the  greatest  portion  of  the  traders, 
who  applied  in  1727  for  the  establishment  of  that  post, 
have  withdrawn,  and  will  not  send  thither  any  more,  as 
the  rupture  with  the  Foxes,  through  whose  country  it 
is  necessary  to  pass  in  order  to  reach  the  Scioux  in 
canoe,  has  led  them  to  abandon  the  idea.  But  the  one 
and  the  other  case  might  be  remedied.  The  Foxes  will, 
in  all  probability,  come  or  send  next  year  to  sue  for 
peace ;  therefore,  if  it  be  granted  to  them  on  advanta- 
geous conditions,  there  need  be  no  apprehension  when 
going  to  the  Scioux,  and  another  company  could  be 
formed,  less  numerous  than  the  first,  through  whom,  or 
some  responsible  merchants  able  to  afford  the  outfits,  a 
new  treaty  could  be  made  whereby  these  difficulties 
would  be  soon  obviated.  One  only  trouble  remains,  and 
that  is,  to  send  a  commandmg  and  sub-officer,  and  some 
soldiers  up  there,  which  are  absolutely  necessary  for  the 
maintenance  of  good  order  at  that  post;  the  mission- 
aries would  not  go  there  without  a  commandant.  This 
article,  which  regards  the  service,  and  the  expense  of 


DE  LIGXERVS  EXPEDITION  AGAINST  THE  FOXES.  185 

which  must  be  on  his  majesty's  account,  obhges  them  to 
apply  for  orders.  They  will,  as  far  as  lies  in  their 
power,  induce  the  traders  to  meet  that  expense,  which 
will  possibly  amount  to  1000  livres  or  1500  livres  a  year 
for  the  commandant,  and  in  pro23ortion  for  the  officer 
under  him ;  but,  as  in  the  beginning  of  an  establishment 
the  expenses  exceed  the  profits,  it  is  improbable  that 
any  company  of  merchants  will  assume  the  outlay,  and 
in  this  case  they  demand  orders  on  this  point,  as  well  as 
his  majesty's  opinion  as  to  the  necessity  of  preserving 
so  useful  a  post,  and  a  nation  which  has  already  afforded 
proofs  of  its  fidelity  and  attachment. 

"  These  orders  could  be  sent  them  by  way  of  lie 
Ro3'ale,  or  b}'  the  first  merchantmen  that  will  sail  for 
Quebec.  The  time  required  to  receive  intelligence  of 
the  occurrences  in  the  Scioux  country,  will  admit  of 
their  waiting  for  these  orders  before  doing  anj^thing." 

On  the  fifth  of  June,  1728,  an  army  of  four  hundred 
Frenchmen  and  eight  or  nine  hundred  savages,  em- 
barked at  Montreal,  on  an  expedition  to  destroy  the 
Fox  nation  and  their  allies,  the  Sauks.  De  Ligiiery^ 
was  the  head  of  the  expedition — a  man  like  Braddock 
at  Fort  Duquesne,  who  moved  his  army  with  precision 
and  pomp,  as  if  the  savages  were  accustomed  to  fight  in 
platoons,  and  observe  the  laws  of  war,  recognised  by  all 
civilized  nations. 

On  the  seventeenth  of  August,  in  the  dead  of  night, 
the  army  arrived  at  the  post  at  the  mouth  of  Fox  river. 
Before  dawn  the  French  crossed  over  to  the  Sauk  vil- 
lage, but  all  had  escaped  with  the  exception  of  four. 
Ascending  the  stream  on  the  twenty-fourth,  they  came 

'  Taught  by  experience,  he  afterwards  became  an  able  oflBcor  in  the 
French  war. 


186  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

to  a  Winnebago  village  which  was  also  deserted.  Pass- 
ing over  the  Little  Fox  Lake,  on  the  twenty-fifth,  they 
entered  a  small  river  leading  to  marshy  ground,  on  the 
borders  of  which  there  was  a  large  Fox  village.  Here 
again  was  another  disappointment,  for  the  swift-footed 
savages  had  gone  many  miles  on  their  trail  long  before 
the  army  came  in  sight. 

Orders  were  then  given  to  advance  upon  the  last 
stronghold  of  the  enemy,  near  the  portage  of  the  Wis- 
consin, and  on  their  arrival  they  found  all  as  still  as 
the  desert.  On  the  return  of  the  army  from  this  fruit- 
less expedition,  the  Lidian  villages  on  the  line  of  march 
were  devastated,  and  the  fort  at  Green  Bay  abandoned. 
The  Foxes,  having  abandoned  everything,  retired  to  the 
country  of  the  loways  and  Dahkotahs,  and  probably  at 
this  time  they  pitched  their  tents  and  hunted  in  the 
valley  of  the  Sauk  river  in  Minnesota. 

During  the  year  of  this  badly  managed  expedition, 
Father  Guignas  visited  the  Dahkotahs,  and  would  have 
remained  there  if  there  had  not  been  hostility  between 
the  Foxes  and  French.  While  travelling  to  the  Illinois 
country  he  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Kickapoos  and 
Mascoutens,  allies  of  the  Foxes,  in  the  month  of  October. 
He  was  saved  from  being  burned  to  death  by  an  aged 
man  adopting  him  as  a  son.  For  five  months  he  was 
in  captivity.  Li  the  year  1736,  while  St.  Pierre  was 
the  commander  at  Lake  Pepin,  Father  Guignas  was 
also  there,  and  thought  that  the  Dahkotahs  were  very 
friendly. 

About  the  period  of  the  revival  of  the  post  on  Lake 
Pepin,  an  establishment  was  built  on  Lake  Ouinipigon, 
west  of  Lake  Superior. 


VERANDERIE'S  TOUR  TOWARDS  THE  ROCKY  MOUNTAINS.  187 


Veranclerie,  a  French  officer,  was,  at  this  early  date, 
commissioned  to  open  a  northern  route  to  the  Pacific. 

Proceeding  Avestward  from  the  Grand  Portage  of  Lake 
Superior,  he  followed  the  chain  of  lakes  which  form  the 
boundary  line  of  Minnesota  and  British  America,  to 
Lake  Winnipeg.  Ascending  the  Assiniboine,  he  struck 
out  on  the  plains,  and  for  several  days  journeyed 
towards  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Kalm,  the  Swedish 
traveller,  who  saw  him  in  Canada,  says  that  he  found 
on  the  prairies  of  Rupert's  Land,  pillars  of  stone. 

At  one  place,  nine  hundred  leagues  from  Montreal, 
he  discovered  a  stone  with  characters  inscribed,  Avhich 
the  learned  at  Paris,  where  it  was  sent,  supposed  were 
Tartarean ;  but  probably  it  was  a  pictograph  set  up  by 
some  passing  war  or  hunting  party.  ^ 


^  Stone  heaps  are  seen  on  the  prai- 
ries of  Minnesota.  Having  written 
to  a  gentleman  some  years  ago,  to  in- 
quire of  the  Dahkotahs  "  what  mean 
ye  by  these  stones  ?"  I  received  an 
interesting  reply : — 

Dear  Sir:  Your  letter  of  the  third 
instant,  relating  to  the  stone  heaps 
near  Red  Wing,  Ava.s  duly  received. 

I  am  happy  to  comply  with  your 
request,  hoping  that  it  may  lead  to 
an  accurate  sui'vey  of  these  mounds. 

In  1848  I  first  heard  of  stone  heaps 
on  the  hill-tops,  back  of  Red  Wing. 
But  business,  and  the  natural  suspi- 
cion of  the  Indian,  prevented  me 
from  exploring.  The  treaty  of  Men- 
dota  emboldened  me  to  visit  the 
hills,  and  try  to  find  the  stone  heaps. 
Accordingly,  late  last  autumn,  I 
started  on  foot  and  alone  from  Red 
Wing,  following  the  path  marked  P. 
on  the  map,  which  I  herewith  trans- 


mit. I  left  the  path  after  crossing 
the  second  stream,  and  turning  to 
the  left,  I  ascended  the  first  hill  that 
I  reached.  This  is  about  a  mile 
distant  from  the  path  that  leads  from 
Fort  Snelling  to  Lake  Pepin.  Here, 
on  the  brow  of  the  hill,  which  was 
about  two  hundred  feet  high,  was  a 
heap  of  stones.  It  is  about  twelve 
feet  in  diameter  and  six  in  height. 
The  perfect  confusion  of  the  stones 
and  yet  the  entireness  of  the  heap, 
and  the  denuded  rocks  all  around, 
convinced  me  that  the  heap  had  been 
formed  from  stones  lying  around, 
picked  up  by  the  hand  of  man. 

But  ^l}hy  and  when  it  had  been 
done,  were  questions  not  so  easily 
decided.  For  solving  these  I  re- 
solved to  seek  internal  evidence. 
Prompted  by  the  spirit  of  a  first 
explorer,  I  soon  ascended  the  heap ; 
and  the  coldness  of  the  day,  and  tho 


18S 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


He  established  some  six  commercial  posts  on  the  line 
of  his  route,  some  of  which  are  in  existence  to  this  day, 
and  bear  the  same  names. 

His  journey  was  ended  by  difficulties  Avith  the  Indi- 
ans, and  he  was  obliged  to  return. 

The  Dahkotahs  Avere  suspected  of  having  molested 
this  expedition.     The  king  of  France,  writing  to  the 


proximity  of  my  gun,  tended  to  sup- 
press my  dread  of  rattlesnakes. 
The  stones  were  such  that  I  could 
lift,  or  roll  them,  and  soon  reached 
a  stick  about  two  feet  from  the  top 
of  the  heap.  After  descending  about 
a  foot  further,  I  pulled  the  post  out ; 
and  about  the  same  place  found  a 
shank  bone,  about  five  inches  long. 
The  post  was  red  cedar  half  decayed, 
7.  e.  one  side,  and  rotted  to  a  point 
in  the  ground ;  hence  I  could  not 
tell  whether  it  grew  there  or  not. 
The  bone  is  similar  to  the  two  which 
you  have.  I  left  it  and  the  post  on 
the  heap,  hoping  that  some  one 
better  skilled  in  osteology  might 
visit  the  heap.  The  stones  of  the 
heap  are  magnesian  limestone,  which 
forms  the  upper  stratum  of  the  hills 
about  Red  Wing. 

Much  pleased,  I  started  over  the 
hill  top,  and  was  soon  greeted  by  an- 
other silent  monument  of  art.  This 
heap  is  marked  B.  on  the  map.  It  is 
similar  to  the  first  which  is  marked 
A.,  only  it  is  larger,  and  was  so  co- 
vered with  a  vine,  that  I  had  no  suc- 
cess in  opening  it.  From  this  point 
there  is  a  fine  view  southward.  The 
valleys  and  hills  are  delightful.  Such 
hills  and  vales,  such  cairns  and  bushy 
glens,  would,  in  my  father's  land.have 


been  the  thrones  and  playgrounds  of 
fairies.  But  I  must  stick  to  facts.  I 
now  started  eastward  to  visit  a  coni- 
cal appearing  hill,  distant  about  a 
mile  and  a  half.  I  easily  descended 
the  hill,  but  to  cross  the  plain  and 
ascend  another  hill, "  hie  labor  est." 
But  I  was  amply  repaid.  The  hill 
proved  to  be  a  ridge  with  several  stone 
heaps  on  the  summit.  Near  one  heap 
there  is  a  beautiful  little  tree  with  a 
top  like  "TamO'Shanter's"  bonnet. 
In  these  heaps  I  found  the  bones 
which  I  left  with  you.  I  discovered 
each  about  half-way  down  the  heaps. 

I  then  descended  northward  about 
two  "hundred  feet,  crossed  a  valley, 
passed  some  earth  mounds,  and  as- 
cended another  hill,  and  there  found 
several  more  stone  heaps  similar  to 
the  others.  In  them  I  found  no 
bones,  nor  did  I  see  anything  else 
worthy  of  particular  notice  at  pre- 
sent. 

If  these  facts  should,  in  any  mea- 
sure, help  to  preserve  correct  infor- 
mation concerning  any  part  of  this 
new  country,  I  shall  be  amply  re- 
warded for  writing. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

J.  F.  AiTOX. 

Kaposia,  Jan.  17,  1852. 


Drejse'e  jur  les  Mcwoire^  tie  M^.'Dt'/7s/e  Profejseur  a  /'Acadfhue 
Jioj/al/"  c/ej'  tfcir/weJ"  .     Par  /yu/i/i/tf  BirarAe.  /  /  5fl 

Drawn  fro/n  lAe  ffrufinal  6y  /f . Or/rtj/ii/  Sa-e^/iy . 


FINAL  ATTACK  ON  THE  FOXES.  189 

governor  of  Canada,  under  date  of  May  tenth,  1737, 
sajs : — 

''  As  respects  the  Scioux,  according  to  what  the  com- 
mandant^ and  missionary^  have  written  to  Sieur  de 
Beauharnois,  relative  to  the  disposition  of  these  Indians, 
nothing  appears  to  be  wanting  on  that  point.  But  their 
delay  in  coming  down  to  Montreal  since  the  time  they 
promised  to  do  so,  must  render  their  sentiments  some- 
what suspected,  and  nothing  but  facts  can  determine 
whether  their  fidelity  can  be  absolutely  relied  on.  But 
what  must  still  further  increase  the  uneasiness  to  be 
entertained  in  their  regard,  is  the  attack  on  the  convoy 
of  M.  de  la  Yeranderie." 

The  Foxes  having  killed  some  Frenchmen  in  the 
Illinois  country,  in  1741,  the  governor  of  Canada,  Mar- 
quis de  Beauharnois,  assembled  at  his  house,  some  of 
the  most  experienced  officers  in  the  Indian  service,  the 
Baron  de  Longeuil,  La  Corne,  De  Lignery,  and  others, 
and  it  was  unanimously  agreed,  that  the  welfare  of  the 
French  demanded  the  complete  extermination  of  the 
Foxes,  and  that  the  movements  against  them  should  be 
conducted  with  the  greatest  caution. 

Louis  XV.  was  glad  to  hear  of  the  determination  of 
the  governor  of  Canada,  but  he  was  afraid  that  it  would 
not  be  conducted  with  sufficient  secrecy.  He,  with  great 
discernment,  remarks,  "  If  the}'  foresee  their  inability  to 
resist,  they  will  have  adopted  the  policy  of  retreating 
to  the  Scioux  of  the  Prairies,  from  which  point  they  will 
cause  more  disorder,  in  the  colony,  than  if  they  had 
been  allowed  to  remain  quiet  in  their  village." 

The  officer  in  charge  of  the  incursion,  was  Moran,' 

*  Saint  Pierre.  *  Guignas. 

'  Probably  Sieur  Marin,  of  the  French  Documents. 


190  HISTORi'  OF  MINNESOTA. 

who  once  had  charge  of  the  post  St.  Nicholas  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Wisconsin,  on  the  Mississippi.  His 
strategy  was  not  unlike  that  of  the  hesiegers  of  ancient 
Troy.  At  that  time  the  Fox  tribe  lived  at  the  Little 
Butte  des  Morts,  on  the  Fox  river  of  Wisconsin.  When- 
ever a  trader's  canoe  hove  in  sight,  they  lighted  a  torch 
upon  the  bank,  which  was  a  signal  for  Frenchmen  to 
land,  and  pay  for  the  privilege  of  using  the  stream. 

Moran  having  placed  his  men  in  canoes,  with  their 
guns  primed,  had  each  canoe  covered  with  canvas,  as 
if  he  was  bringing  into  the  country  an  outfit  of  mer- 
chandise, and  desired  to  protect  it  from  storms.  When 
near  Little  Butte  des  Morts  the  party  was  divided,  a 
portion  proceeding  by  land  to  the  rear  of  the  Fox  vil- 
lage, and  the  remainder  moving  up  the  stream. 

The  oarsmen  having  paddled  the  canoes  within  view 
of  the  Foxes,  they,  according  to  custom,  planted  the 
torch,  supposing  it  was  a  trader's  "  brigade."^ 

Curiosity  brought  men,  women,  and  children  to  the 
river's  bank,  and  as  they  gazed,  the  canoes  were  suddenly 
uncovered,  and  the  discharge  of  a  swivel,  and  volleys 
of  musketry,  were  the  presents  received.  Before  they 
could  recover  from  their  consternation,  they  received 
"  a  fire  in  the  rear"  from  the  land  party,  and  many 
were  killed.  The  remnant  retreated  to  the  Wisconsin, 
twenty-one  miles  from  Prairie  du  Chien,  where,  the 
next  season  Moran  and  his  troops,  on  snow  shoes,  sur- 
prised them  while  they  w^ere  engaged  in  a  game,  and 
slew  nearly  the  whole  settlement.^ 

During  the  winter  of  1745-6,  De  Lusignan  visited 

'  In  the  North-West  a  collection     Recollections.     A^'ol.  iii.,  Wis.  His. 
of  traders'  canoes  is  called  a  brigade.     Soc.  Col. 
^  Snclling's  North-West,  Grignon's 


LUSIGNAN  VISITS  THE  DAHKOTAHS.  191 

the  Dahkotahs,  ordered  by  government  to  hunt  up  the 
"coureurs  des  bois,"  and  withdraw  them  from  the 
country.  They  started  to  return  with  him,  but  learn- 
ing that  they  would  be  arrested  at  Mackinaw,  for  viola- 
tion of  law,  they  ran  away.  While  at  the  villages  of 
the  Dahkotahs  of  the  lakes  and  plains,  the  chiefs 
brought  to  this  officer  nineteen  of  their  young  men, 
bound  with  cords,  who  had  killed  three  Frenchmen  at 
the  Illinois.  While  he  remamed  with  them  they  made 
peace  with  the  Ojibways  of  La  Pointe,  with  whom  they 
had  been  at  war  for  some  tune.  On  his  return,  four 
chiefs  accompanied  him  to  Montreal,  to  solicit  pardon 
for  their  young  braves. 

The  lessees  of  the  trading  post  lost  many  of  their 
peltries  that  winter,  m  consequence  of  a  fire. 

English  influence  produced  increasing  dissatisfaction 
among  the  Indians  that  were  beyond  Mackinaw.  Not 
only  were  voyageurs  robbed  and  maltreated  at  Sault  St. 
Marie,  and  other  points  on  Lake  Superior,  but  even  the 
commandant  at  Mackinaw  was  exposed  to  insolence,  and 
there  was  no  security  anywhere.  The  Marquis  de 
Beauharnois  determined  to  send  St.  Pierre  to  the  scene 
of  disorder.  In  the  language  of  a  document  of  the  day, 
he  was  "  a  very  good  officer,  much  esteemed  among 
all  the  nations  of  those  parts — none  more  loved  and 
feared." 

On  his  arrival,  the  savages  were  so  cross,  that  he 
advised  that  no  Frenchman  should  come  to  trade. 

By  promptness  and  boldness,  he  secured  the  Indians 
who  had  murdered  some  Frenchmen,  and  obtained  the 
respect  of  the  tribes. 

While  the  three  murderers  were  being  conveyed  in  a 
canoe  down  the  St.  Lawrence  to  Quebec,  in  charge  of  a 


192  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

sergeant  and  seven  soldiers,  the  savages,  with  character- 
istic cunning,  though  manacled,  succeeded  in  killing  or 
drowning  the  guard.  Cutting  their  irons  with  an  axe, 
they  sought  the  woods,  and  escaped  to  their  own 
country. 

"  Thus,"  writes  Galassoniere,  in  1748,  to  Count  Mau- 
repas,  "  was  lost  in  a  great  measure  the  fruit  of  Sieur 
St.  Pierre's  good  management,  and  of  all  the  fatigue  I 
endured  to  get  the  nations  who  surrendered  these 
rascals  to  listen  to  reason." 


INDIAN  ENLISTMENT.— FRENCH  WAR.  193 


CHAPTER  X. 

Canada  was  now  fairly  involved  in  the  war  mth 
New  York  and  the  New  England  colonies.  The  Home 
Governments  were  anxious  lookers  on,  for  momentous 
issues  depended  upon  the  failure  or  success  of  either 
party. 

The  French  knew  that  they  must  enhst  the  Upper 
Indians  on  their  side,  or  lose  Detroit,  Mackinaw,  and 
indeed  all  the  keys  of  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  and 
the  region  of  the  lakes.  They,  therefore,  sent  officers 
with  presents  to  Mackinaw,  to  induce  the  tribes  of  the 
far  West  to  unite  with  them  in  expelling  the  English. 

It  was  impossible  to  form  regiments  of  the  North 
American  savages,  as  the  French  of  modern  days  have 
done  in  Algeria,  or  as  the  British  with  the  Sepoys. 

Indians  can  never  be  made  to  move  in  platoons. 
From  youth  they  have  marched  in  single  file,  and  have 
only  answered  to  the  call  of  their  inclinations,  and  over 
them  their  chiefs  have  not  the  slightest  authority.  To 
their  capricious  natures  enlistment  for  a  fixed  time  is 
repugnant.  At  the  same  time,  under  the  guidance  of 
colonial  officers  who  humoured  them  in  their  whims, 
they  frequently  rendered  efficient  service.  They  were 
conversant  with  the  recesses  of  the  forest,  and  walked 
through  the  tangled  wilderness  with  the  same  ease  that 

13 


194  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

the  French  military  officers  promenaded  the  gardens  of 
Paris.  They  discovered  the  trail  of  men  with  the 
instinct  that  their  dogs  scented  the  tracks  of  wild 
beasts.  Adroit  in  an  attack,  they  would  also,  amid  a 
shower  of  musket  balls,  feel  for  the  scalp  of  an  enemy. 

With  such  allies  it  is  no  wonder  that  New  England 
mothers  and  delicate  maidens  turned  pale  when  they 
heard  that  the  French  were  coming.^ 

On  the  twenty-third  of  August,  1747,  Philip  Le  Due 
arrived  at  Mackinaw  from  Lake  Superior,  stating  that 
he  had  been  robbed  of  his  goods  at  Kamanistigoya,^  and 
that  the  Ojibways  of  the  lake  were  favourably  disposed 
toward  the  English.  The  Dahkotahs  were  also  becom- 
ing unruly  in  the  absence  of  French  officers. 

In  the  few  weeks  after  Le  Due's  robbery,  St.  Pierre 
left  Montreal  to  become  commandant  at  Mackinaw,  and 
Vercheres  was  appointed  for  the  post  at  Green  Bay. 

On  the  twenty-first  of  June  of  the  next  year.  La 
Ronde  started  for  La  Pointe,  and  La  Veranderie  for 
West  Sea' — ^Fond  du  Lac,  Minnesota. 

For  several  years  there  was  constant  dissatisfaction 
among  the  Indians,  but  under  the  influence  of  Sieur 
Marin,  Avho  was  in  command  at  Green  Bay  in  1753, 
tranquillity  was  in  a  measure  restored. 

1  The  following  are  some  of  the  Aug.  6,     40  Ottawas  of  the  Fork, 

arrivals  in  a  few  weeks  at  Montreal,  "    10,    65  Mississagues. 

in  1746.     July  23—31   Ottawas  of  "     "      80  Algonkins  and   Nepis- 

Detroit.  sings. 

•July  31,  16  Folles  Avoines  for  war.  "     "      14  Sauteurs. 

""    "     14Kiskakons          "     "  "    22,   38  Ottawas  of  Detroit. 

"     "        4  Scioux,   to    ask    for   a  "     "      17  Sauteurs 

commandant.  "     "      24  Hurons. 

Aug.  2,     50  Pottowattamiesforwar.  "     "      14  Poutewatamis. 

"     "      15  Puans                  "     "  ^   Pigeon  river,  part  of  northern 

"     '*      10  Illinois                "     "  boundary  of  Minnesota. 

"    6,     50  Ottawas  of  Mackinaw.  '  Carver's  map  calls  it  West  Bay. 


BRADDOCK'S  DEFEAT.— ST.  PIERRE'S  DEATH.  195 

As  the  war  between  England  and  France,  in  America 
became  desperate,  the  officers  of  the  north-western  posts 
were  called  into  action,  and  stationed  nearer  the  enemy. 

Legardeur  de  St.  Pierre,  whose  name  it  is  thought 
was  formerly  attached  to  the  river  from  which  the  state 
of  Minnesota  derives  its  name,  was  m  command  of  a 
rude  post  in  Erie  county,  Pennsylvania,  in  December, 
1753,  and  to  him  Washington,  then  just  entering  upon 
manhood,  bore  a  letter  from  Governor  Dinwiddie  of 
Virginia.' 

On  the  ninth  of  July,  1755,  Beaujeu  and  De  Lignery, 
who  had  pursued  so  unsuccessfully  the  Foxes,  in  the 
valley  of  the  Wisconsm,  in  1728,  were  at  Fort  Duquesne, 
and  marched  out  of  the  fort  Math  soldiers,  Canadians, 
and  Indians,  to  seek  an  ambush,  but  about  noon,  before 
reaching  the  desired  spot,  they  met  the  enemy  under 
Braddock,  who  discharged  a  galling  fire  from  their  artil- 
lery, by  which  Beaujeu  was  killed.  The  sequel,  which 
led  to  the  memorable  defeat  of  Braddock,  is  familiar  to 
all  who  have  read  the  life  of  Washington. 

Under  Baron  Dieskaw,  St.  Pierre  commanded  the 
Indians,  in  September,  1755,  during  the  campaign  on 
Lake  Champlain,  where  he  fell  gallantly  fighting  the 
English,  as  did  his  commander.  The  Reverend  Claude 
Cocquard,  alluding  to  the  French  defeat,  in  a  letter  to 
his  brother,  remarks  : — 

"  We  lost,  on  that  occasion,  a  brave  officer,  M.  de  St. 
Pierre,  and  had  his  advice,  as  well  as  that  of  several 
other  Canadian  officers  been  followed,  Jonckson^  was 
irretrievably  destroyed,  and  we  should  have  been  spared 
the  trouble  we  have  had  this  year." 

'  St.  Pierre's  reply  was  manly  and  dignified.     See  Pennsylvania  Cokt- 
nial  Records,  v.  715. 
'  JohnsoD. 


196  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

Other  officers  who  had  been  stationed  on  the  borders 
of  Mmnesota,  also  distmguished  themselves  during  the 
French  war.  The  Marquis  Montcalm,  in  camp  at  Ticon- 
deroga,  on  the  twenty-seventh  of  July,  1 757,  writes  to 
Vaudreuil,  Governor  of  Canada. 

"  Lieutenant  Marin,  of  the  Colonial  troops,  who  has 
exhibited  a  rare  audacity,  did  not  consider  himself 
bound  to  halt,  although  his  detachment  of  about  four 
hundred  men  was  reduced  to  about  two  hundred,  the 
balance  having  been  sent  back  on  account  of  inability 
to  follow.  He  carried  oflf  a  patrol  of  ten  men,  and 
swept  away  an  ordinary  guard  of  fifty,  like  a  wafer; 
went  up  to  the  enemy's  camp,  under  Fort  Lydius 
(Edward),  where  he  was  exposed  to  a  severe  fire,  and 
retreated  hke  a  warrior.  He  was  unwilUng  to  amuse 
himself  making  prisoners ;  lie  brought  in  only  one,  and 
thirty-two  scalps,  and  must  have  killed  many  men  of 
the  enemy,  in  the  midst  of  whose  ranks  it  was  neither 
wise  nor  prudent  to  go  in  search  of  scalps.  The  Indians 
generally  all  behaved  well.  ******  The  Outaouais, 
who  arrived  with  me,  and  whom  I  designed  to  go  on  a 
scouting  party  towards  the  lake,  had  conceived  a  pro- 
ject of  administering  a  corrective  to  the  English  barges. 
*  *  *  *  On  the  day  before  yesterday,  your  brother 
formed  a  detachment  to  accompany  them.  I  arrived  at 
his  camp  on  the  evening  of  the  same  day.  Lieutenant 
de  Corbiere,  of  Colonial  troops,  was  returning  in  conse- 
quence of  a  misunderstanding,  and  as  I  knew  the  zeal 
and  intelligence  of  that  officer,  I  made  him  set  out  with 
a  new  instruction  to  rejoin  Messrs.  de  Langlade  ^  and 
Hertel  de  Chantly.     They  remained  in  ambush  all  day 

^  This  officer  has  relatives  in  Wis-  his  life  is  in  Grignon's  Recollections, 
consin,  and  an  interesting  sketch  of    Wis.  Hist.  Soc.  Collections,  vol.  iii. 


lOWAYS  AT  TICOXDEROGA. 


197 


and  night  yesterday;  at  break  of  day  the  EngUsh 
appeared  on  Lake  St.  Sacrament  (Champlain),  to  the 
number  of  twenty-two  barges,  under  the  command  of 
Sieur  Parker.  The  whoops  of  our  Indians  impressed 
them  with  such  terror  that  they  made  but  feeble  resist- 
ance, and  only  two  barges  escaped." 

After  De  Corbiere's  victory  on  Lake  Champlain,  a 
large  French  army  was  collected  at  Ticonderoga,  with 
which  there  were  many  Lidians  from  the  tribes  of  the 
North-west,^  and  the  loways  appeared  for  the  first  time 
in  the  east. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  the  EngUsh  officers  who 


'  INDIANS  OF  THE  UPPER  COUNTRY.  OFFICERS. 

Tetes  de  Boule 3 

Outaouais  Kiskakons 94    De  Langlade. 

"         Sinagos 35     Florimont. 

"         of  the  Forks 70     Herbin. 

"         ofMignogan 10     Abbe  Matavet. 

"        of  Beaver  Island 44     Sulpitian. 

of  Detroit 30 

"         of  Saginau 54 

Sauteurs  of  Chagoamigon 33    La  Plante. 

"        of  Beaver 23     De  Lorimer. 

"        of  Coasekimagen 14     Chesne,  Interpreter. 

of  the  Carp 37 

"        ofCabibonkfe 50 

Poutouatamie  of  St.  Joseph 70 

of  Detroit 18 

FoUes  Avoines  of  Orignal 62 

of  the  Chat 67 

Miamis 15 

Puans  of  the  Bay 48     De  Tailly,  Interpreter. 

Ayeouais  (loways) 10 

Foxes 20     Marin,  Langus. 

Ouillas 10     Reauuie,  Interpreter. 

Sacs 33 

Loups 5 


198  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

were  in  frequent  engagements  with  St.  Pierre,  Lusignan, 
Marin,  Langlade,  and  others,  became  the  pioneers  of  the 
British,  a  few  years  afterwards,  in  the  occupation  of  the 
outposts  on  the  Lakes,  and  in  the  exploration  of  Minne- 
sota. 

Rogers,  the  celebrated  captain  of  rangers,  subse- 
quently commander  of  Mackinaw,  and  Jonathan  Carver, 
the  first  British  explorer  of  Minnesota,  were  both  on 
duty  at  Lake  Champlain — ^the  latter  narrowly  escaping 
at  the  battle  of  Fort  George. 

On  Christmas  eve,  1757,  Rogers  approached  Fort 
Ticonderoga,  to  fire  the  out^houses,  but  was  prevented 
by  discharge  of  the  cannons  of  the  French. 

He  contented  himself  with  killing  fifteen  beeves,  on 
the  horns  of  one  of  which  he  left  a  laconic  and  amusing 
note,  addressed  to  the  commander  of  the  post.^ 

On  the  thirteenth  of  March,  1758,  Durantaye,  for- 
merly at  Mackinaw,  had  a  skirmish  with  Rogers.  Both 
had  been  trained  on  the  frontier,  and  they  met  "as 
Greek  met  Greek."  The  conflict  was  fierce,  and  the 
French  victorious.  The  Indian  allies,  finding  a  scalp 
of  a  chief  underneath  an  officer's  jacket,  were  furious, 
and  took  one  hundred  and  fourteen  scalps  in  return. 
When  the  French  returned,  they  supposed  that  Captain 
Rogers  was  among  the  killed. 

At  Quebec,  when  Montcalm  and  Wolfe  fell,  there 
were  Ojibways  present,  assisting  the  French. 

The  Indians,  returning  from  the  expeditions  against 

^  "  I  am  obliged  to  you,  Sir,  for  the  my  compliments  to  the  Marquis  du 

repose  you  have  allowed  me  to  take  ;  Montcalm.       Rogers,  Commandant 

1  thank  you  for  the  fresh  meat  you  Independent  Companies." 
have  sent  me,  I  request  you  to  present 


ENGLISH  AT  GREEN  BAY.— DAHKOTAII  EMBASSY.  199 

the  English  were  attacked  with  small-pox,  and  many 
died  at  Mackinaw. 

On  the  eighth  of  September,  1760,  the  French  de- 
livered up  all  their  posts  in  Canada.  A  few  days  after 
the  capitulation  at  Montreal,  Major  Kogers  was  sent 
with  English  troops,  to  garrison  the  posts  of  the  distant 
North-west. 

On  the  eighth  of  September,  1761,  a  year  after  the 
surrender.  Captain  Belfour,  of  the  eightieth  regiment 
of  the  British  army,  left  Detroit,  with  a  detachment,  to 
take  possession  of  the  French  forts  at  Mackinaw  and 
Green  Bay.  Twenty-five  soldiers  were  left  at  Macki- 
naw, in  command  of  Lieutenant  Leslie,  and  the  rest 
sailed  to  Green  Bay,  where  ihey  arrived  on  the  twelfth 
of  October.  The  fort  had  been  abandoned  for  several 
years,  and  was  in  a  dilapidated  condition.  In  charge 
of  it,  there  was  left  a  lieutenant,  a  corporal,  and  fifteen 
soldiers.  Two  English  traders  arrived  at  the  same 
time — McKay  from  Albaii}",  and  Goddard  from  Mon- 
treal. 

On  the  first  of  March,  1763,  twelve  Dahkotah  war- 
riors arrived  at  the  fort,  and  proffered  the  friendship  of 
the  nation.  They  told  the  English  officer,  with  warmth, 
that  if  the  Ojibways,  or  other  Indians,  wished  to  obstruct 
the  passage  of  the  traders  coming  up,  to  send  them  a 
belt,  and  they  would  come  and  cut  them  off",  as  all 
Indians  were  their  slaves  or  dogs.  They  then  produced 
a  letter  written  by  Penneshaw,  a  French  trader,  who 
had  been  permitted,  the  year  before,  to  go  to  their 
country.  On  the  nineteenth  of  June,  Penneshaw  re- 
turned from  his  trading  expedition  among  the  Dahko- 
tahs.  By  his  influence  the  nation  was  favourably 
affected  toward  the  English.     He  brought  ^vith  him  a 


200 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


pipe  from  them,  with  a  request  that  traders  might  be 
sent  to  them/ 


^  Extracts  from  the  journal  of  Lt. 
Gorell,  an  English  officer  at  Green 
Bay,  Wis.  His.  Coll.  vol.  i. 

"  On  March  1,  1763,  twelve  vrar- 
riors  of  the  Sous  came  here.  It  is 
certainly  the  greatest  nation  of 
Indians  ever  yet  found.  Not  above 
two  thousand  of  them  were  ever 
armed  with  fire-arms,  the  rest  de- 
pending entirely  on  bows  and  arrows, 
which  they  use  with  more  skill  than 
any  other  Indian  nation  in  America. 
They  can  shoot  the  wildest  and 
largest  beasts  in  the  woods  at  seventy 
or  one  hundred  yards  distant.  They 
are  remarkable  for  their  dancing, 
and  the  other  nations  take  the 
fashions  from  them.  *  *  *  *  This 
nation  is  always  at  war  with  the 
Chippewas,  those  who  destroyed 
Mishamakinak.  They  told  me  with 
warmth  that  if  ever  the  Chippewas 
or  any  other  Indians  wished  to  ob- 
struct the  passage  of  the  traders 
coming  up,  to  send  them  word,  and 
they  would  come  and  cut  them  off 
from  the  face  of  the  earth,  as  all 
Indians  were  their  slaves  or  dogs. 
I  told  them  I  was  glad  to  see  them, 
and  hoped  to  have  a  lasting  peace 
with  them.  They  then  gave  me  a 
letter  wrote  in  French,  and  two  belts 
of  wampum  from  their  king,  in  which 
he  expressed  great  joy  on  hearing  of 
there  being  English  at  his  post.  The 
letter  was  written  by  a  French  tra- 
der, whom  I  had  allowed  to  go  among 
them  last  fall,  with  a  promise  of  his 


behaving  well,  which  he  did,  better 
than  any  Canadian  I  ever  knew.  * 
*  *  *  With  regard  to  traders,  I  told 
them  I  would  not  allow  any  to  go 
amongst  them,  as  I  then  understood 
they  lay  out  of  the  government  of 
Canada,  but  made  no  doubt  they 
would  have  traders  from  the  Missis- 
sippi in  the  spring.  They  went 
away  extremely  well  pleased.  'June 
14th,  1763,  the  traders  came  down 
from  the  Sack  country,  and  confirmed 
the  news  of  Landsing  and  his  son 
being  killed  by  the  French.  There 
came  with  the  traders  some  Puans 
and  four  young  men,  with  one  chief 
of  the  Avoy  (loway)  nation  to  de- 
mand traders.'     *  *  *  * 

"On  the  nineteenth,  a  deputation 
of  Winnebagoes,  Sacs,  Foxes,  and  Me- 
nominees  arrived  with  a  Frenchman 
named  Pennensha.  This  Pennen- 
sha  is  the  same  man  who  wrote  the 
letter  the  Sous  brought  with  them 
in  French,  and  at  the  same  time  held 
council  with  that  great  nation  in 
favour  of  the  English,  by  which  he 
much  promoted  the  interest  of  the 
latter,  as  appeared  by  the  behaviour 
of  the  Sous.  He  brought  with  him 
a  pipe  from  the  Sous,  desiring  that 
as  the  road  is  now  clear,  they  would 
by  no  means  allow  the  Chippewas  to 
obstruct  it,  or  give  the  English  any 
disturbance,  or  prevent  the  traders 
from  coming  up  to  them.  If  they 
did  so  they  would  send  all  their 
warriors  and  cut  them  off." 


NO  ENGLISH  POSTS  BEYOND  MACKINAW.  201 


CHAPTER   XL 

Though  the  treaty  of  1763,  made  at  Versailles,  be- 
tween France  and  England,  ceded  all  the  territory 
comprised  within  the  limits  of  Wisconsin  and  Minne- 
sota to  the  latter  power,  the  EngUsh  did  not  for  a  long 
time  obtain  a  foothold. 

The  French  traders  having  purchased  wives  from  the 
Indian  tribes,  they  managed  to  preserve  a  feelmg  of 
friendship  towards  their  king,  long  after  the  trading 
posts  at  Green  Bay  and  Sault  St.  Marie  had  been  dis- 
continued. 

The  price  paid  for  peltries  by  those  engaged  in  the 
fur  trade  at  New  Orleans,  was  also  higher  than  that 
which  the  British  could  afford  to  give,  so  that  the 
Indians  sought  for  French  goods  in  exchange  for  their 
skins. 

Finding  it  useless  to  compete  with  the  French  of  the 
lower  Mississippi,  the  English  government  established 
no  posts  of  trade  or  defence  beyond  Mackinaw.  The 
country  west  of  Lake  Michigan  appears  to  have  been 
trodden  by  but  few  British  subjects,  previous  to  him 
who  forms  the  subject  of  tlie  present  chapter,  and  whose 
name  has  become  somewliat  famous  in  consequence  of 
his  heirs  having  laid  claim  to  the  site  of  St.  Paul,  and 
many  miles  adjacent. 


202  HISTORY  OF  iMINNESOTA. 

Jonathan  Carver  was  a  native  of  Connecticut.  It  has 
been  asserted  that  he  was  a  lineal  descendant  of  John 
Carver,  the  first  governor  of  Plymouth  colony ;  but  the 
only  definite  information  that  the  writer  can  obtain 
concerning  his  ancestry  is,  that  his  grandfather,  William 
Carver,  was  a  native  of  Wigan,  Lancashire,  England, 
and  a  caj)tain  in  King  Wilham's  army  during  the  cam- 
paign in  Ireland,  and  for  meritorious  services  received 
an  appointment  as  an  officer  of  the  colony  of  Connecticut, 

His  father  was  a  justice  of  the  peace  in  the  new  world, 
and  in  1732,  at  Stillwater,  or  Canterbury,  Connecticut, 
the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born.  At  the  early  age 
of  fifteen  he  was  called  to  mourn  the  death  of  his  father. 
He  then  commenced  the  study  of  medicine,  but  his 
roving  disposition  could  not  bear  the  confines  of  a 
doctor's  ofiice,  and  feeling,  perhaps,  that  his  genius 
would  be  cramped  by  pestle  and  mortar,  at  the  age  of 
eighteen  he  purchased  an  ensign's  commission  in  one  of 
the  regiments  Connecticut  raised  during  the  French 
war.  He  was  of  medium  stature,  and  of  strong  mind 
and  quick  perceptions. 

In  the  year  1757,  he  was  present  at  the  massacre  of 
Fort  William  Henry,  and  narrowly  escaped  with  his  life. 

After  the  peace  of  1763,  between  France  and  Eng- 
land, was  declared.  Carver  conceived  the  j)roject  of  ex- 
ploring the  North-west.  Leaving  Boston  in  the  month 
of  June,  1766,  he  arrived  at  Mackinaw,  then  the  most 
distant  British  post,  in  the  month  of  August.  Having 
obtained  a  credit  on  some  French  and  English  traders 
from  Major  Rogers,  the  officer  in  command,  he  started 
with  them  on  the  third  day  of  September.  Pursuing 
the  usual  route  to  Green  Bay,  they  arrived  there  on 
the  eighteenth. 


CARVER'S  DESCRIPTION  OF  PRAIRIE  DU  CIIIEN.  203 

The  French  fort  at  that  time  was  standing,  though 
much  decayed.  It  was,  some  years  previous  to  his 
arrival,  garrisoned  for  a  short  time  by  an  officer  and 
thirty  English  soldiers,  but  they  having  been  captured 
by  the  Menominees,  it  was  abandoned. 

In  company  with  the  traders  he  left  Green  Bay  on 
the  twentieth,  and  ascending  Fox  river,  arrived  on  the 
twenty-fifth  at  an  island  at  the  east  end  of  Lake  Win- 
nebago, containing  about  fifty  acres. 

Here  he  found  a  Winnebago  village  of  fifty  houses. 
He  asserts  that  a  woman  was  in  authority.  In  the 
month  of  October  the  party  was  at  the  portage  of  the 
Wisconsin,  and  descending  that  stream,  they  arrived, 
on  the  ninth,  at  a  town  of  the  Sauks.  While  here  he 
visited  some  lead  mines  about  fifteen  miles  distant. 
An  abundance  of  lead  was  also  seen  in  the  village,  that 
had  been  brought  from  the  mines. 

On  the  tenth  they  arrived  at  the  first  village  of  the 
"  Ottigaumies"  (Foxes),  and  about  five  miles  before  the 
Wisconsin  joins  the  Mississippi,  he  perceived  the  rem- 
nants of  another  village,  and  learned  that  it  had  been 
deserted  about  thirty  years  before,  and  that  the  inhabit- 
ants, soon  after  their  removal,  built  a  town  on  the  Mis- 
sissippi, near  the  mouth  of  the  "  Ouisconsin,"  at  a  place 
called  by  the  French  La  Prairie  les  Chiens,  which 
signified  the  Dog  Plains.  It  was  a  large  town,  and 
contained  about  three  hundred  families.  The  houses 
were  built  after  the  Indian  manner,  and  pleasantly 
situated  on  a  dry  rich  soil. 

He  saw  here  many  horses  of  a  good  size  and  shape. 
This  town  was  the  great  mart  where  all  the  adjacent 
tril)es,  and  where  those  who  inhabit  the  most  remote 
branches  of  the  Mississippi,  annually  assemble  about 


204  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

the  latter  end  of  May,  bringing  with  them  their  furs 
to  dispose  of  to  the  traders.  But  it  is  not  always  that 
they  conclude  their  sale  here.  This  was  determined  by 
a  general  council  of  the  chiefs,  who  consulted  whether  it 
would  be  more  conducive  to  their  interest  to  sell  their 
goods  at  this  place,  or  to  carry  them  on  to  Louisiana 
or  Mackinaw. 

At  a  small  stream  called  Yellow  river,  opposite  Prairie 
du  Chien,  the  traders  who  had  thus  far  accompanied 
Carver  took  up  their  residence  for  the  winter. 

From  this  point  he  proceeded  in  a  canoe,  with  a 
Canadian  voyageur  and  a  Mohawk  Indian,  as  com- 
panions. 

Just  before  reaching  Lake  Pepin,  while  his  attend- 
ants were  one  day  preparing  dinner,  he  walked  out  and 
was  struck  mth  the  peculiar  appearance  of  the  surface 
of  the  country,  and  thought  it  was  the  site  of  some  vast 
artificial  earth- work. 

It  is  a  fact,  worthy  of  remembrance,  that  he  was  the 
first  to  call  the  attention  of  the  civilized  world  to  the 
existence  of  ancient  monuments  in  the  Mississippi  valley. 
We  give  his  own  description  : — 

"  On  the  first  of  November  I  reached  Lake  Pepin,  a 
few  miles  below  which  I  landed,  and,  whilst  the  ser- 
vants were  preparing  my  dinner,  I  ascended  the  bank 
to  view  the  country.  I  had  not  proceeded  far  before  I 
came  to  a  fine,  level,  open  plain,  on  which  I  perceived, 
at  a  little  distance,  a  partial  elevation,  that  had  the 
appearance  of  entrenchment.  On  a  nearer  inspection, 
I  had  greater  reason  to  suppose  that  it  had  really  been 
intended  for  this  many  centuries  ago.  Notwithstanding 
it  was  now  covered  with  grass,  I  could  plainly  see  that 
it  had  once  been  a  breast-work  of  about  four  feet  in 


SUPPOSED  EARTH  WORKS  NEAR  LAKE  PEPIN.  205 

height,  extending  the  best  part  of  a  mile,  and  sufficiently 
capacious  to  cover  five  thousand  men.  Its  form  was 
somewhat  circular,  and  its  flanks  reached  to  the  river. 

"  Though  much  defaced  by  time,  every  angle  was 
distinguishable,  and  appeared  as  regular  and  fashioned 
Avitli  as  much  military  skill  as  if  planned  by  Vauban 
himself  The  ditch  was  not  visible ;  but  I  thought,  on 
examining  more  curiously,  that  I  could  perceive  there 
certainly  had  been  one.  From  its  situation,  also,  I  am 
convinced  that  it  must  have  been  designed  for  that 
purpose.  It  fronted  the  country,  and  the  rear  was 
covered  by  the  river,  nor  was  there  any  rising  ground 
for  a  considerable  way  that  commanded  it ;  a  few 
straggling  lakes  were  alone  to  be  seen  near  it.  In 
many  places  small  tracks  were  worn  across  it  by  the 
feet  of  the  elks  or  deer,  and  from  the  depth  of  the  bed 
of  earth,  by  which  it  was  covered,  I  was  able  to  draw 
certain  conclusions  of  its  great  antiquity.  I  examined 
all  the  angles,  and  every  part  with  great  attention,  and 
have  often  blamed  myself  since,  for  not  encamping  on 
the  spot,  and  drawing  an  exact  plan  of  it.  To  show 
that  this  description  is  not  the  offspring  of  a  heated 
imagination,  or  the  chimerical  tale  of  a  mistaken  travel- 
ler, I  find,  on  inquiry,  since  my  return,  that  Mons.  St. 
Pierre  and  several  traders  have,  at  difierent  times, 
taken  notice  of  similar  appearances,  upon  which  they 
have  formed  the  same  conjectures,  but  without  exa- 
mining them  so  minutely  as  I  did.  How  a  work  of 
this  kind  could  exist  in  a  country  that  has  hitherto 
(according  to  the  generall}^  received  opinion)  been  the 
seat  of  war  to  untutored  Indians  alone,  whose  whole 
stock  of  military  knowledge  has  only,  till  within  two 
centuries,  amounted  to  drawing  the  bow,  and  whose 


206  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

only  breastwork,  even  at  present,  is  the  thicket,  I  know 
not.  I  have  given  as  exact  an  account  as  possible  of 
this  singular  appearance,  and  leave  to  future  explorers, 
of  those  distant  regions,  to  discover  whether  it  is  a  pro- 
duction of  nature  or  art.  Perhaps  the  hints  I  have 
here  given,  might  lead  to  a  more  perfect  investigation 
of  it,  and  give  us  very  different  ideas  of  the  ancient 
state  of  realms,  that  we  at  present  believe  to  have 
been,  from  the  earliest  period,  only  the  habitations  of 
savages." 

Lake  Pepin  excited  his  admiration,  as  it  has  that  of 
every  traveller  since  his  day,  and  here  he  remarks  :  "I 
observed  the  ruins  of  a  French  factory,  where  it  is  said 
Captain  St.  Pierre  resided,  and  carried  on  a  very  great 
trade  with  the  Naudowessies,  before  the  reduction  of 
Canada." 

Carver's  first  acquaintance  with  the  Dahkotahs  com- 
menced near  the  river  St.  Croix.  It  would  seem  that 
the  erection  of  trading  posts  on  Lake  Pepin  had  enticed 
them  from  their  old  residence  on  Rum  river  and 
Mille  Lac. 

He  says :  "  Near  the  river  St.  Croix,  reside  bands  of 
the  Naudowessie  Indians,  called  the  River  Bands.  This 
nation  is  composed  at  present  of  eleven  bands.  They 
were  originally  twelve,  but  the  Assinipoils,  some  years 
ago,  revolting  and  separating  themselves  from  the  others, 
there  remain  only  at  this  time  eleven.  Those  I  met 
here  are  termed  the  River  Bands,  because  they  chiefly 
dwell  near  the  banks  of  this  river ;  the  other  eight  are 
generally  distinguished  by  the  title  of  Naudowessies  of 
the  Plains,  and  inhabit  a  country  more  to  the  westward. 
The  name  of  the  former  are  Nehogatawonahs,  the 
Mawtawbauntowahs,  and  Shashweentowahs. 


CAVE  AND  BURIAL  PLACE  NEAR  ST.  PAUL.       207 

Arriving  at  what  is  now  a  suburb  of  the  capital  of 
Minnesota,  he  continues,  "about  thirteen  miles  below 
the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  at  which  I  arrived  the  tenth 
day  after  I  left  Lake  PeiDin,  is  a  remarkable  cave  of  an 
amazing  depth.  The  Indians  term  it  Wakon-teebe  (Wa- 
kan-tipi) .  The  entrance  into  it  is  about  ten  feet  wide,  the 
height  of  it  five  feet.  Tha  arch  within  is  near  fifteen  feet 
high,  and  about  thirty  feet  broad ;  the  bottom  consists  of 
fine  clear  sand.  About  thirty  feet  from  the  entrance, 
begins  a  lake,  the  water  of  which  is  transparent,  and  ex- 
tends to  an  unsearchable  distance,  for  the  darkness  of  the 
cave  prevents  all  attempts  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  it. 
I  threw  a  small  pebble  towards  the  interior  part  of  it 
with  my  utmost  strength ;  I  could  hear  that  it  fell  into 
the  water,  and,  notwithstanding  it  was  of  a  small  size, 
it  caused  an  astonishing  and  terrible  noise,  that  reverbe- 
rated through  all  those  gloomy  regions.  I  found  in  this 
cave  many  Indian  hierogliy-phics,  which  appeared  very 
ancient,  for  time  had  nearly  covered  them  with  moss, 
so  that  it  was  with  difficulty  I  could  trace  them.  They 
were  cut  in  a  rude  manner  upon  the  inside  of  the  wall, 
which  was  composed  of  a  stone  so  extremely  soft  that  it 
might  be  easily  penetrated  with  a  knife ;  a  stone  every- 
where to  be  found  near  the  Mississippi. 

"  At  a  little  distance  from  this  dreary  cavern,  is  the 
burying-place  of  several  bands  of  the  Naudowessie 
Indians.  Though  these  people  have  no  fixed  residence, 
being  in  tents,  and  seldom  but  a  few  months  in  one 
spot,  yet  they  always  bring  the  bones  of  the  dead  to 
this  place.' 

'  The  cave  has  been  materially  and  the  atmosphere.  Years  ago  the 
altered  by  nearly  a  century's  work  top  fell  in,  but  on  the  side  walls,  not 
of  those  effective  tools,  frost,  water,    covered  by  debris,  pictographs  gray 


208  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

'•  Ten  miles  below  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  the  river 
St.  Pierre,  called  by  the  natives  Wadapaw  Menesotor, 
falls  into  the  Mississippi  from  the  west.  It  is  not  men- 
tioned by  Father  Hennepin,  though  a  large,  fair  river. 
This  omission,  I  consider,  must  have  proceeded  from  a 
small  island  (Faribault's) ,  that  is  situated  exactly  in  its 
entrance." 

When  he  reached  the  Minnesota  river,  the  ice  became 
so  troublesome  that  he  left  his  canoe  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  what  is  now  the  ferry,  and  walked  to  St. 
Anthony,  in  company  with  a  young  Winnebago  chief, 
who  had  never  seen  the  curling  waters.  The  chief,  on 
reaching  the  eminence  some  distance  below  Cheever's, 
began  to  invoke  his  gods,  and  offer  oblations  to  the 
spirit  in  the  waters. 

"  In  the  middle  of  the  Falls  stands  a  small  island, 
about  forty  feet  broad,  and  somewhat  longer,  on  which 
grow  a  few  cragged  hemlock  and  spruce  trees,  and  about 
half  way  between  this  island  and  the  eastern  shore,  is  a 
rock,  l3^ing  at  the  very  edge  of  the  Falls,  in  an  oblique 
position,  that  appeared  to  be  about  five  or  six  feet  broad, 
and  thirty  or  forty  long.    At  a  little  distance  below  the 

with  age,  are  visible.     In  1807,  the  It  is  now  walled  up  and  used  as  a 

present  mouth  of  the  cave  was  so  root-house  by  the  owner  of  the  land, 

covered  up,  that  Major  Long,  to  use  On  the  bluff  above  are  numerous 

a  vulgarism,  was  obliged  to  "  creep  mounds.     Under  the  supervision  of 

on  all  fours"  to  enter.     In  1820,  it  the  writer,  one  eighteen  feet  high  and 

seems  to  have  been  closed,  as  School-  two  hundred  and  sixty  feet  in  cir- 

craft  describes   another  cave  three  cumference  at  the  base,  was  opened 

miles  above,  as  Carver's.     Feathers-  to  the  depth  of  three  or  four  feet. 

tonhaugh  made  the  same  mistake.  Fragments  of  skull,  which  crumbled 

In  1837  Nicollet  the  astronomer  on  exposure,  and  perfect  shells  of 

and    his  assistants,   worked  many  human  teeth,   the  interior  entirely 

hours  and  entered  the  little  cavity  decayed,  were  found, 
that  remained. 


FALLS  OF  ST.  ANTHONY  IN  17G6.  209 

Falls,  stands  a  small  island  of  about  an  acre  and  a  half, 
on  which  grow  a  great  number  of  oak  trees." 

From  this  description,  it  would  apj)ear  that  the  little 
island,  now  some  distance  in  front  of  the  Falls,  was  once 
in  the  very  midst,  and  shows  that  a  constant  recession 
has  been  going  on,  and  that  in  ages  long  past,  they  were 
not  far  from  the  Minnesota  river.  A  century  hence,  if 
the  wearing  of  the  last  five  years  is  any  criterion,  the 
Falls  will  be  above  the  town  of  St.  Anthony. 

No  description  is  more  glowing  than  Carver's,  of  the 
country  adjacent : — 

"  The  country  around  them  is  extremely  beautiful. 
It  is  not  an  uninterrupted  plain,  where  the  eye  finds  no 
relief,  but  composed  of  many  gentle  ascents,  which  in 
the  summer  are  covered  with  the  finest  verdure,  and 
interspersed  with  little  groves  that  give  a  pleasing 
variety  to  the  prospect.  On  the  whole,  when  the  Falls 
are  included,  which  may  be  seen  at  the  distance  of  four 
miles,  a  more  pleasing  and  picturesque  view  I  believe 
cannot  be  found  throughout  the  universe." 

He  arrived  at  the  Falls  on  the  seventeenth  of  Novem- 
ber, 1766,  and  appears  to  have  ascended  as  far  as  Elk 
river. 

On  the  twenty-fifth  of  November,  he  had  returned  to 
the  place  opposite  the  Minnesota,  where  he  had  left  his 
canoe,  and  this  stream  as  yet  not  being  obstructed  with 
ice,  he  commenced  its  ascent,  with  the  colours  of  Great 
Britain  Hying  at  the  stern  of  his  canoe.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  he  entered  this  river,  but  how  far  he  explored 
it  cannot  be  ascertained.  He  speaks  of  the  Rapids  near 
Shokopay,  and  asserts  that  he  went  as  fiir  as  two  hundred 
miles  beyond  Mendota.     He  remarks : — 

"  On  the  seventh  of  December,  I  arrived  at  the  utmost 

14  4 


210  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

extent  of  my  travels  towards  the  West,  where  I  met  a 
large  party  of  the  Naudowessie  Indians,  among  whom  I 
resided  some  months." 

After  speaking  of  the  upper  bands  of  the  Dahkotahs 
and  their  allies,  he  adds  that  he  "  left  the  habitations 
of  the  hosf)itable  Indians  the  latter  end  of  April,  1767, 
but  did  not  part  from  them  for  several  days,  as  I  was 
accompanied  on  my  journey  by  near  three  hundred  of 
them  to  the  mouth  of  the  river  St.  Pierre.  At  this 
season  these  bands  annually  go  to  the  great  cave  (Day- 
ton's Bluff),  before  mentioned." 

When  he  arrived  at  the  great  cave,  and  the  Indians 
had  deposited  the  remains  of  their  deceased  friends  in 
the  burial-place  that  stands  adjacent  to  it,  they  held 
their  great  council,  to  which  he  was  admitted. 

When  the  Naudowessies  brought  their  dead  for  inter- 
ment to  the  great  cave  (St.  Paul),  I  attempted  to  get  an 
insight  into  the  remaming  burial  rites,  but  whether  it 
was  on  account  of  the  stench  which  arose  from  so  many 
bodies,  or  whether  they  chose  to  keep  this  ipart  of  their 
custom  secret  from  me,  I  could  not  discover.  I  found, 
however,  that  they  considered  my  curiosity  as  ill-timed, 
and  therefore  I  withdrew.     *     *     * 

One  formality  among  the  Naudowessies  in  mourning 
for  the  dead,  is  very  different  from  any  mode  I  observed 
in  the  other  nations  through  which  I  passed.  The  men, 
to  show  how  great  their  sorrow  is,  pierce  the  flesh  of 
their  arms  above  the  elbows  with  arrows,  and  the 
women  cut  and  gash  their  legs  with  sharp  broken  flints 
till  the  blood  flows  very  plentifully.    *    *    ***** 

After  the  breath  is  departed,  the  body  is  dressed  in 
the  same  attire  it  usually  wore,  his  face  is  painted,  and 
he  is  seated  in  an  erect  posture  on  a  mat  or  skin,  placed 


ALLEGED  BURLIL  SPEECH  AT  ST.  PAUL.        211 

in  the  middle  of  the  hut,  with  his  weapons  by  his  side. 
His  relatives  seated  around,  each  harangues  in  turn  the 
deceased ;  and,  if  he  has  been  a  great  warrior,  recounts 
his  heroic  actions  nearly  to  the  following  purport,  which 
in  the  Indian  language  is  extremely  poetical  and  pleas- 
ing :— 

"  You  still  sit  among  us,  brother,  your  person  retains 
its  usual  resemblance,  and  continues  similar  to  ours, 
without  any  visible  deficiency,  except  it  has  lost  the 
power  of  action !  But  whither  is  that  breath  flown, 
which  a  few  hours  ago  sent  up  smoke  to  the  Great 
Spirit  ?  Why  are  those  lips  silent  that  lately  delivered 
to  us  expressions  and  pleasing  language  ?  Why  are 
those  feet  motionless  that  a  short  time  ago  were  fleeter 
than  the  deer  on  yonder  mountains  ?  Why  useless 
hang  those  arms  that  could  climb  the  tallest  tree,  or 
draw  the  toughest  bow  ?  Alas !  every  part  of  that  frame 
which  we  lately  beheld  with  admiration  and  wonder,  is 
now  become  as  inanimate  as  it- was  three  hundred  years 
ago !  We  will  not,  however,  bemoan  thee  as  if  thou 
wast  for  ever  lost  to  us,  or  that  thy  name  would  be 
buried  in  oblivion — thy  soul  yet  lives  in  the  great 
country  of  Spirits  with  those  of  thy  nation  that  have 
gone  before  thee;  and,  though  we  are  left  behind  to 
perpetuate  thy  fame,  we  shall  one  day  join  thee. 

"  Actuated  by  the  respect  we  bore  thee  whilst  living, 
we  now  come  to  tender  thee  the  last  act  of  kindness  in 
our  power;  that  thy  body  might  not  lie  neglected  on 
the  plain  and  become  a  prey  to  the  beasts  of  the  field 
or  fowls  of  the  air,  we  will  take  care  to  lay  it  with  those 
of  thy  predecessors  who  have  gone  before  thee ;  hoping 
at  the  same  time  that  thy  sjDirit  will  feed  with  their 


212  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

spirits  and  be  ready  to  receive  ours  when  we  shall  also 
arrive  at  the  great  country  of  souls." 

For  this  speech  Carver  is  principally  indebted  to  his 
imagination,  but  it  is  well  conceived,  and  suggested  one 
of  Schiller's  poems. ^ 

It  appears  from  other  sources  that  Carver's  visit  to 
the  Dahkotahs  was  of  some  effect  in  bringing  about 
friendly  intercourse  between  them  and  the  commander 
of  the  English  force  at  Mackinaw. 

The  earliest  mention  of  the  Dahkotahs,  in  any  public 
British  documents  that  we  know  of,  is  in  the  correspond- 
ence between  Sir  William  Johnson,  Superintendent  of 
Indian  Affairs  for  the  Colony  of  New  York,  and  General 
Gage,  in  command  of  the  forces. 

On  the  eleventh  of  September,  less  than  six  months 
after  Carver's  speech  at  Dayton's  Bluff,  and  the  de- 
parture of  a  number  of  chiefs  to  the  English  fort  at 
Mackinaw,  Johnson  writes  to  General  Gage  : — "  Though 
I  wrote  to  you  some  days  ago,  yet  I  would  not  mind 
saying  something  again  on  the  score  of  the  vast  expenses 
incurred,  and,  as  I  understand,  still  incurring  at  Michi- 
limackinac,  chiefly  on  pretence  of  making  a  peace 
between  the  Sioux  and  Chippeweighs,  with  which  I 
think  we  have  very  little  to  do,  in  good  policy  or  other- 
wise." 

Sir  William  Johnson,  in  a  letter  to  Lord  Hillsborough, 
one  of  his  Majesty's  ministers,  dated  August  seventeenth, 
1768,  again  refers  to  the  subject: — 

''  Much  greater  part  of  those  who  go  a  trading  are 
men  of  such  circumstances  and  disposition  as  to  venture 
their  persons  everywhere  for  extravagant  gains,  yet  the 

^  For  translations  of  Schiller,  see  Chapter  III.  p.  89. 


PROPOSED  PACIFIC  ROAD.  213 

consequences  to  the  public  are  not  to  be  slighted,  as  we 
may  be  led  into  a  general  quarrel  through  their  means. 
The  Indians  in  the  part  adjacent  to  Michilimackinac 
have  been  treated  with  at  a  very  great  expense  for  some 
time  previous. 

"  Major  Kodgers  brings  a  considerable  charge  against 
the  former  for  mediatmg  a  peace  between  some  tribes 
of  the  Sioux  and  some  of  the  Chippeweighs,  which,  had 
it  been  attended  with  success,  would  only  have  been 
interesting  to  a  very  few  French,  and  others,  that  had 
goods  in  that  part  of  the  Indian  country,  but  the  con- 
trary has  happened,  and  they  are  now  more  violent,  and 
war  against  one  another." 

Though  a  wilderness  of  over  one  thousand  miles  inter- 
vened between  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony  and  the  Avhite 
settlements  of  the  English,  he  was  fully  impressed  with 
the  idea  that  the  state  now  organized  under  the  name 
of  Minnesota,  on  account  of  its  beauty  and  fertility, 
would  attract  settlers. 

Speaking  of  the  advantages  of  the  country,  he  says 
that  the  future  population  will  be  "  able  to  convey  their 
produce  to  the  seaports  with  great  facility,  the  current 
of  the  river  from  its  source  to  its  entrance  into  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico,  being  extremely  favourable  for  doing  this  in 
small  craft.  This  migJit  also  in  time  he  facilitated  hy 
canals  or  shorter  cuts,  and  a  commimiccdion  opened  hy 
water  with  Neiv  York,  hy  way  of  the  Lakes'' 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  also  confident  that  a 
route  could  be  discovered  by  way  of  the  Minnesota  river, 
which  ''  would  open  a  passage  for  conveying  intelligence 
to  China,  and  the  English  settlements  in  the  East 
Indies." 

Carver,  having  returned  to  England,  interested  Whit- 


214  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

worth,  a  member  of  Parliament,  in  the  Northern  route. 
Had  not  the  American  Revolution  commenced,  they 
proposed  to  have  built  a  fort  at  Lake  Pepin,  to  have 
proceeded  up  the  Minnesota,  until  they  found,  as  they 
supposed  they  could,  a  branch  of  the  Missouri,  and  from 
thence  journeying  over  the  summit  of  lands,  until  they 
came  to  a  river  which  they  called  Oregon,  they  expected 
to  descend  to  the  Pacific. 

Carver,  in  common  with  other  travellers,  had  his 
theory  in  relation  to  the  origin  of  the  Dahkotahs.  He 
supposed  that  they  came  from  Asia.  He  remarks, 
"  But  this  might  have  been  at  different  times  and  from 
various  parts — from  Tartary,  China,  Japan,  for  the  inlia- 
])itants  of  these  places  resemble  each  other.     *    *    *    * 

"  It  is  very  evident  that  some  of  the  names  and  cus- 
toms of  the  American  Indians  resemble  those  of  the 
Tartars,  and  I,  make  no  doubt  but  that  in  some  future 
era,  and  this  not  very  distant,  it  will  be  reduced  to 
certainty  that  during  some  of  the  wars  between  the 
Tartars  and  the  Chinese,  a  part  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  northern  provinces  were  driven  from  their  native 
country,  and  took  refuge  in  some  of  the  isles  before 
mentioned,  and  from  thence  found  their  way  into  Ame- 

Ii-«rtrt  '^  •1'  '**         '1^  *t»  't^ 

"  Many  words  are  used  both  by  the  Chinese  and  In- 
dians which  have  a  resemblance  to  each  other,  not  only 
in  their  sound  but  in  their  signification.  The  Chinese 
call  a  slave  Shungo;  and  the  Naudowessie  Indians, 
whose  language,  from  their  little  intercourse  with  the 
Europeans,  is  least  corrupted,  term  a  dog  Shungush 
(Shoankah).  The  former  denominate  our  species  of 
their  tea  Shoushong ;  the  latter  call  their  tobacco  Shous- 
as-sau  (Chanshasha) .     Many  other  of  the  words  used 


EXAMINATION  OF  THE  CARVER  CLAIM.  215 

by  the  Indians  contain  the  syllables  die,  chaw,  and  cliu, 
after  the  dialect  of  the  Chinese."  The  comparison  of 
languages  has  become  a  rich  source  of  historical  know- 
ledge, yet  very  many  of  the  analogies  traced  are  fanciful. 
The  remark  of  Humboldt  in  "  Cosmos"  is  worthy  of  re- 
membrance : — "  As  the  structure  of  American  idioms 
appears  remarkably  strange  to  nations  speaking  the 
modern  languages  of  Western  Europe,  and  who  readily- 
suffer  themselves  to  be  led  away  by  some  accidental 
analogies  of  sound,  theologians  have  generally  be- 
lieved that  they  could  trace  an  affinity  with  the 
Hebrew,  Spanish  colonists  with  the  Basque  and  the 
English,  or  French  settlers  with  Gaelic,  Erse,  or  the 
Bas  Breton.  I  one  day  met  on  the  coast  of  Peru,  a 
Sj3anish  naval  officer  and  an  English  whaling  captain, 
the  former  of  whom  declared  that  he  had  heard  Basque 
spoken  at  Tahiti;  the  other,  Gaelic  or  Erse  at  the 
Sandwich  Islands.'" 

Carver  became  very  poor  while  in  England,  and  was 
a  clerk  in  a  lottery  office.  He  died  in  1780,  and  left  a 
widow,  two  sons,  and  five  daughters,  in  New  England, 
and  also  a  child  by  another  wife  that  he  had  married  in 
Great  Britain. 

After  his  death  a  claim  was  urged  for  the  land  upon 
which  the  capital  of  Minnesota  now  stands,  and  for 
many  miles  adjacent.  As  there  are  still  many  persons 
who  believe  that  they  have  some  right  through  certain 
deeds  purporting  to  be  from  the  heirs  of  Carver,  it  is  a 
matter  worthy  of  an  investigation. 

Carver  says  nothing  in  his  book  of  travels  in  relation 
to  a  grant  from  the  Dahkotahs,  but  after  he  was  buried, 
it  was  asserted  that  there  was  a  deed  belonging  to  him 
in  existence,  conveying  valuable  lands,  and  that  said 


216 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


deed  was  executed  at  the  cave  now  in  the  eastern 
suburbs  of  Samt  Paul.^ 

The  orighial  deed  was  never  exhibited  by  the 
assignees  of  the  heirs.  By  his  English  wife  Carver  had 
one  child,  a  daughter  Martha,  who  was  cared  for  by  Sir 
Richard  and  Lady  Pearson.  In  time  she  eloped  and 
married  a  sailor.  A  mercantile  firm  in  London,  thinking 
that  money  could  be  made,  induced  the  newly  married 
couple,  the  day  after  the  wedding,  to  convey  the  grant 
to  them,  with  the  understanding  that  they  were  to  have 
a  tenth  of  the  profits. 

The  merchants  despatched  an  agent  by  the  name  of 
Clarke  to  go  to  the  Dahkotahs,  and  obtain  a  new  deed ; 
but  on  his  way  he  was  murdered  in  the  State  of  New 
York. 


^  Deed  purporting  to  have   been 

given  at  the  cave  in  the  bluff 

BELOW  St.  Paul. 

"  To  -JonathaQ  Carver,  a  Chief 
under  the  most  mighty  and  potent 
George  the  Third  King  of  the  Eng- 
lish, and  other  nations,  the  fame  of 
whose  warriors  has  reached  our  ears, 
and  has  now  been  fully  told  us  by 
our  good  brother  Jonathan,  aforesaid, 
whom  we  rejoice  to  have  come  among 
us,  and  bring  us  good  news  from  his 
country. 

"We,  Chiefs  of  the  Naudowessies, 
who  have  hereunto  set  our  seals,  do 
by  these  presents,  for  ourselves  and 
heirs  forever,  in  return  for  the  aid 
and  other  good  services  done  by  the 
said  Jonathan  to  ourselves  and  allies, 
give,  grant,  and  convey  to  him,  the 
said  Jonathan,  and  to  his  heirs  and 
assigns  forever,  the  whole  of  a  certain 
tract  of  territory  of  land,  bounded 


as  follows,  viz  :  from  the  Falls  of  St. 
Anthony,  running  on  east  bank  of 
the  Mississippi,  nearly  south-east, 
as  far  as  Lake  Pepin,  where  the 
Chippewa  joins  the  Mississippi,  and 
from  thence  eastward,  five  days  tra- 
vel accounting  twenty  English  miles 
per  day,  and  from  thence  again  to 
the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  on  a  direct 
straight  line.  We  do  for  ourselves, 
heirs,  and  assigns,  forever  give  unto 
the  said  Jonathan,  his  heirs  and 
assigns,  with  all  the  trees,  rocks, 
and  rivers  therein,  reserving  the  sole 
liberty  of  hunting  and  fishing  on 
laad  not  planted  or  improved  by  the 
said  Jonathan,  his  heirs  and  .assigns, 
to  which  we  have  affixed  our  respec- 
tive seals. 

"  At  the  Great  Cave,   May   1st, 
1767." 

"  Signed,     Hawnopawjatin. 

Otohtongoomlisheaw. 


CARVER'S  CLAIM  BEFORE  CONGRESS.  217 

In  the  year  1794,  the  heirs  of  Carver's  American 
wife,  in  consideration  of  fifty  thousand  pounds  sterling, 
conveyed  their  interest  in  the  Carver  grant  to  Edward 
Houghton  of  Vermont.  In  the  year  1806,  Samuel 
Peters,^  who  had  been  a  tory  and  an  Episcopal  minister 
during  the  Revolutionary  war,  alleges,  in  a  petition  to 
Congress,  that  he  had  also  purchased  of  the  heirs  of 
Carver  their  rights  to  the  grant. 

Before  the  Senate  Committee,  the  same  year,  he 
testified  as  follows  : — 

"In  the  year  1774,  I  arrived  there  (London),  and 
met  Captain  Carver.  In  1775,  Carver  had  a  hearing 
before  the  king,  praying  his  majesty's  approval  of  a 
deed  of  land  dated  May  first,  1767,  and  sold  and  granted 
to  him  by  the  Naudowissies.  The  result  was  his  majesty 
approved  of  the  exertions  and  bravery  of  Captain  Carver 
among  the  Indian  nations,  near  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony, 
in  the  Mississij^pi,  gave  to  said  Carver  1373?.  13s.  8c?. 
sterling,  and  ordered  a  frigate  to  be  prepared,  and  a 
transport  ship  to  carry  one  hundred  and  fifty  men, 
under  command  of  Captain  Carver,  with  four  others  as 
a  committee,  to  sail  next  June  to  New  Orleans,  and 
then  to  ascend  the  Mississippi  to  take  possession  of  said 
territory  conveyed  to  Captain  Carver,  but  the  battle  of 
Bunker  Hill  prevented."^ 

In  1821,  General  Leavenworth,  having  made  inqui- 
ries of  the  Dahkotahs,  in  relation  to  the  alleged  claim, 
addressed  the  following  to  the  connnissioner  of  the  land 
office  : — 


*  Said  to  have  been  the  author  of  the  great-grandson  of  Governor  John 

a  fictitious  work  called  "  Connecticut  Carver,  the  first  Chief  Magistrate  of 

Blue  Laws."  Plymouth  Colony. 

^  Peters  also  testified  that  he  was 


218  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

"  Sir : — Agreeabh'  to  your  request,  I  have  the  honour 
to  inform  you  what  I  have  understood  from  the  Indians 
of  the  Sioux  Nation,  as  well  as  some  facts  within  ni}' 
o^vn  knowledge,  as  to  what  is  commonly  termed  Car- 
ver's Grant.  The  grant  purports  to  be  made  by  the 
chiefs  of  the  Sioux  of  the  Plains,  and  one  of  the  chiefs 
uses  the  sign  of  a  serpent,  and  the  other  a  turtle,  pur- 
porting that  their  names  are  derived  from  those  animals. 

"  The  land  lies  on  the  east  side  of  the  Mississippi. 
The  Indians  do  not  recognise  or  acknowledge  the  grant 
to  be  valid,  and  they  among  others  assign  the  follow- 
ing reasons : — 

"  1.  The  Sioux  of  the  Plains  never  owned  a  foot  of 
land  on  the  east  side  of  the  Mississippi.  The  Sioux 
Nation  is  divided  into  two  grand  divisions,  viz :  The 
Sioux  of  the  Lake,  or  perhaps  more  literally  Sioux  of 
the  Eiver,  and  Sioux  of  the  Plain.  The  former  subsists 
by  hunting  and  fishing,  and  usually  move  from  place  to 
place  by  water,  in  canoes,  during  the  summer  season, 
and  travel  on  the  ice  in  the  ^vinter,  when  not  on  their 
hunting  excursions.  The  latter  subsist  entirely  by 
hunting,  and  have  no  canoes,  nor  do  they  know  but 
little  about  the  use  of  them.  They  reside  in  the  large 
prairies  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  follow  the  buffalo, 
upon  which  they  entirely  subsist ;  these  are  called  Sioux 
of  the  Plain,  and  never  owned  land  east  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi. 

"  2.  The  Indians  say  they  have  no  knowledge  of  any 
such  chiefs,  as  those  who  have  signed  the  grant  to 
Carver,  either  amongst  the  Sioux  of  the  River,  or  Sioux 
of  the  Plain.  They  say  that  if  Captain  Carver  did  ever 
obtain  a  deed  or  grant,  it  was  signed  by  some  foolish 
young  men  who  were  not  chiefs,  and  who  were  not 


LEAVENWORTH'S  LETTER  ON  THE  GRANT.  219 

authorized  to  make  a  grant.  Among  the  Sioux  of  the 
River  there  are  no  such  names. 

"  3.  They  say  the  Indians  iiever  received  anything 
for  the  land,  and  they  have  no  intention  to  part  with 
it,  without  a  consideration.  From  my  knowledge  of 
the  Indians,  I  am  induced  to  think  they  would  not 
make  so  considerable  a  grant,  and  have  it  go  into  full 
effect,  without  receiving  a  substantial  consideration. 

"  4.  They  hav^e,  and  ever  have  had,  the  possession 
of  the  land,  and  intend  to  keep  it.  I  know  that  they 
are  very  particular  in  making  every  person  Avho  wishes 
to  cut  timber  on  that  tract,  obtain  their  permission  to 
do  so,  and  to  obtain  payment  for  it.  In  the  month  of 
May  last,  some  Frenchmen  brought  a  large  raft  of  red 
cedar  timber  out  of  the  Chippewa  river,  which  timber 
was  cut  on  the  tract  before  mentioned.  The  Indians  at 
one  of  the  villages  on  the  Mississippi,  where  the  prin- 
cipal chief  resided,  compelled  the  Frenchmen  to  land 
the  raft,  and  would  not  permit  them  to  pass  until  they 
had  received  pay  for  the  timber ;  and  the  Frenchmen 
were  compelled  to  leave  their  raft  with  the  Indians 
until  they  went  to  Prairie  du  Chien,  and  obtained  the 
necessary  articles,  and  made  the  payment  required." 

On  the  twenty-third  of  January,  1823,  the  Committee 
of  Public  Lands  made  a  report  on  the  claim  to  the 
Senate,  which,  to  every  disinterested  person,  is  entirely 
satisfactory.  After  stating  the  facts  of  the  petition,  the 
report  continues : — 

"  The  Rev.  Samuel  Peters,  in  his  petition,  further 
states  that  Lefei,  the  present  Emperor  of  the  Sioux  and 
Naudowessies,  and  Red  Wing,  a  Sachem,  the  heirs  and 
successors  of  the  two  grand  chiefs  who  signed  the  said 
deed  to  Captain  Carver,  have  given   satisfactory  and 


220  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

positive  proof,  that  they  allowed  their  ancestors'  deed  to 
be  genuine,  good,  and  valid,  and  that  Captain  Carver's 
heirs  and  assigns  are  the  owners  of  said  territory,  and 
may  occupy  it  free  of  all  molestation. 

"  The  committee  have  examined  and  considered  the 
claims  thus  exliibited  by  the  petitioners,  and  remark 
that  the  original  deed  is  not  produced,  nor  any  compe- 
tent legal  evidence  offered,  of  its  execution ;  nor  is  there 
any  proof  that  the  persons,  whom  it  is  alleged  made  the 
deed,  were  the  chiefs  of  said  tribe,  nor  that  (if  chiefs) 
they  had  authority  to  grant  and  give  away  the  land 
belonging  to  their  tribe.  The  paper  annexed  to  the 
petition,  as  a  copy  of  said  deed,  has  no  subscribing  wit- 
nesses ;  and  it  would  seem  impossible  at  this  remote 
period,  to  ascertain  the  important  fact,  that  the  persons 
who  signed  the  deed  comprehended  and  understood  the 
meaning  and  effect  of  their  act. 

"  The  want  of  proof  as  to  these  facts,  would  interpose 
in  the  w^ay  of  the  claimants  insuperable  difficulties. 
But,  in  the  opinion  of  the  committee,  the  claim  is  not 
such  as  the  United  States  are  under  any  obligation  .to 
allow,  even  if  the  deed  were  proved  in  legal  form. 

"  The  British  government,  before  the  time  when  the 
alleged  deed  bears  date,  had  deemed  it  prudent  and 
necessary,  for  the  preservation  of  peace  with  the  Indian 
tribes  under  their  sovereignty,  protection,  and  dominion, 
to  prevent  British  subjects  from  purchasing  lands  from 
the  Indians ;  and  this  rale  of  policy  was  made  known 
and  enforced  by  the  proclamation  of  the  king  of  Great 
Britain,  of  seventh  October,  1763,  which  contains  an 
express  prohibition. 

"  Captain  Carver,  aware  of  the  law,  and  knowing  that 
such  a  contract  could  not  vest  the  legal  title  in  him, 


EEPORT  OF  SENATE  COMMITTEE.  221 

applied  to  the  British  government  to  ratify  and  confirm 
the  Indian  grant,  and  though  it  was  comj^etent  for  that 
government  then  to  confirm  the  grant,  and  vest  the  title 
of  said  land  in  him,  yet,  from  some  cause,  that  govern- 
ment did  not  think  proper  to  do  it. 

'-  The  territory  has  since  become  the  property  of  the 
United  States,  and  an  Indian  grant,  not  good  against 
the  British  government,  would  appear  to  be  not  binding 
upon  the  United  States  government. 

"  What  benefit  the  British  government  derived  from 
the  services  of  Caf)tain  Carver,  by  his  travels  and  resi- 
dence among  the  Indians,  that  government  alone  could 
determine,  and  alone  could  judge  what  remuneration 
those  services  deserved. 

"  One  fact  appears  from  the  declaration  of  Mr.  Peters, 
in  his  statement  in  writing,  among  the  papers  exhibited, 
namely,  that  the  British  government  did  give  Captain 
Carver  the  sum  of  one  thousand  three  hundred  and 
seventy-five  pounds  six  shillings  and  eight  pence  ster- 
ling,^ To  the  United  States,  however,  Captain  Carver 
rendered  no  services  which  could  be  assumed  as  any 
equitable  ground  for  the  support  of  the  petitioners' 
claim. 

"  The  committee  being  of  opinion  that  the  United 
States  are  not  bound,  in  law  or  equity,  to  confirm  the 
said  alleged  Indian  grant,  recommend  the  adoption  of 
the  following  resolution  : — 

"  '  Resolved,  that  the  prayer  of  the  petitioners  ought 
not  to  be  granted."  ' 

^  Lord  Palmerston  stated  in  1839,     papers,  showing  any  ratification  of 
that  no  trace  could  Ijo  found  in  the     the  Carver  grant, 
records  of  the  British  office  of  state 


222  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

Sustained  by  French  influence  and  fire-arms,  the 
Ojibways  began  to  advance  mto  the  Dahkotah  country. 
Carver  found  the  two  nations  at  war  in  1766,  and  was 
told  that  they  had  been  fighting  forty  years.  Pike, 
when  at  Leech  Lake,  in  1806,  met  an  aged  Ojibway 
chief,  called  "  Sweet,"  who  said  that  the  Dahkotahs  lived 
there  when  he  was  a  young  man. 

Ojibway  tradition  says  that  about  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  years  ago,  a  large  war  party  was  raised  to 
march  against  a  Dahkotah  village  at  Sandy  Lake ;  the 
leader's  name  was  Biauswah,  grandfather  of  a  well 
kno^vn  chief  of  that  name  at  Sand}^  Lake. 

Some  years  after  Sandy  Lake  had  been  taken  by  this 
chief,  sixty  Ojibways  descended  the  Mississippi.  On 
their  return,  at  the  confluence  of  the  Crow  Wing  and 
Mississippi,  they  saw  traces  of  a  large  Dahkotah  party 
that  had  ascended  to  their  village,  and  probably  killed 
their  wives  and  children.  Digging  holes  in  the  ground 
they  concealed  themselves,  and  awaited  the  descent  of 
their  enemies.  The  Dahkotahs  soon  came  floating  do"\vn, 
singing  songs  of  triumph  and  beating  the  drum,  with 
scalps  dangling  from  poles.  The  Dahkotahs  were  five 
times  as  many  as  the  Ojibways,  but  when  the  latter 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  NAME  PILLAGER.  223 

beheld  the  reeking  scalps  of  their  relatives  they  were 
nerved  to  fight  with  desperation.  The  battle  soon  com- 
menced, and  when  arms  and  ammunition  failed,  they 
dug  holes  near  to  each  other  and  fought  with  stones. 
The  bravest  fought  hand  to  hand  with  knives  and  clubs. 
The  conflict  lasted  three  days,  till  the  Dahkotahs  at  last 
retreated.  The  marks  of  this  battle  are  still  thought  to 
be  "sasible. 

The  band  of  Ojibways,  li^'hlg  at  Leech  Lake,  have 
long  borne  the  name  of  '"  Pillagers,"  from  the  fact  that, 
while  encamped  at  a  small  creek  on  the  Mississippi, 
ten  miles  from  Crow  Wing  river,  they  robbed  a  trader 
of  his  goods. 

Ver}-  near  the  period  that  France  ceded  Canada  to 
England,  the  last  conflict  of  the  Foxes  and  Ojibways 
took  place  at  the  Falls  of  the  St.  Croix. 

The  account  which  the  Ojibways  give  of  this  battle 
is,  that  a  famous  war  chief  of  Lake  Superior,  whose 
name  was  Waub-o-jeeg,  or  White  Fisher,  sent  his  war 
club  and  wampum  of  war  to  call  the  scattered  bands  of 
the  Ojibway  tribes,  to  collect  a  war  party  to  march 
against  the  Dahkotah  villages  on  the  St.  Croix  and 
Mississippi.  Warriors  from  St.  Marie,  Keweenaw,  Wis- 
consin, and  Grand  Portage  joined  his  party,  and  with 
three  hundred  warriors,  Waub-o-jeeg  started  from  La 
Pointe  to  march  into  the  enemy's  country.  He  had 
sent  his  war  club  to  the  village  of  Sandy  Lake,  and 
they  had  sent  tobacco  in  return,  with  answer  that  on  a 
certain  day,  sixty  men  from  that  section  of  the  Ojibway 
tribe  would  meet  him  at  the  confluence  of  Snake  river 
with  the  St.  Croix.  On  reaching  this  point  on  the  day 
designated,  and  the  Sandy  Lake  party  not  having 
arrived  as  agreed  upon,  Waub-o-jeeg,  not  confident  in 


22^  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

the  strength  of  his  numbers,  continued  down  the  St. 
Croix.  They  arrived  at  the  Falls  of  St.  Croix  early  in 
the  morning,  and,  while  preparing  to  take  their  bark 
canoes  over  the  portage,  or  carrying  place,  scouts  were 
sent  in  advance  to  reconnoitre.  They  soon  returned 
with  the  information  that  they  had  discovered  a  large 
party  of  Foxes  and  Dahkotahs  landing  at  the  other  end 
of  the  portage. 

The  Ojibways  instantly  prepared  for  battle,  and  the 
scouts  of  the  enemy  having  discovered  them,  the  hostile 
parties  met  as  if  by  mutual  appointment,  in  the  middle 
of  the  portage.  The  Foxes,  after  seeing  the  compara- 
tively small  number  of  the  Ojibways,  and  over  confident 
in  their  own '  superior  numbers  and  prowess,  requested 
the  Dahkotahs  not  to  join  in  the  fight,  but  to  sit  by  and 
see  how  quickly  they  could  rout  the  Ojibways.  This 
request  was  granted.  The  fight  between  the  contend- 
ing warriors,  is  said  to  have  been  fiercely  contested,  and 
embellished  with  many  daring  acts  of  personal  valour. 
About  noon  the  Foxes  commenced  yielding  ground,  and 
at  last  were  forced  to  flee  in  confusion.  They  would 
probably  have  been  driven  into  the  river  and  killed  to 
a  man,  had  not  their  allies  the  Dahkotahs,  who  had 
been  quietly  smoking  their  pipes  and  calmly  viewing 
the  fight  from  a  distance,  at  this  juncture,  yelled  their 
war  whoop,  and  rushed  to  the  rescue  of  their  discomfited 
friends. 

The  Ojibways  resisted  their  new  enemies  manfully, 
and  it  was  not  until  their  ammunition  had  entirely 
failed  that  they  in  turn  showed  their  backs  in  flight. 
Few  would  have  returned  to  their  lodges  to  tell  the  sad 
tale  of  defeat,  and  death  of  brave  men,  had  not  the 
party  of  sixty  warriors  from  Sandy  Lake,  who  were  to 


DEFEAT  OF  FOXES  AT  FALLS  OF  ST.  CROIX.      225 

have  joined  them  at  the  mouth  of  Snake  river,  arrived 
at  this  opportune  moment,  and  landed  at  the  head  of 
the  portage. 

Eager  for  the  fight  and  fresh  on  the  field,  this  band 
withstood  the  onset  of  the  Dahkotahs  and  Foxes,  till 
their  retreating  friends  could  rally  again  to  the  battle. 
The  Dahkotahs  and  Foxes  in  turn  fled,  and  it  is  said 
that  the  slaughter  in  their  ranks  Avas  great.  Many 
were  driven  over  the  rocks  into  the  boiling  flood  below; ; 
and  every  crevice  in  the  cliffs  contained  a  dead  or 
wounded  enemy. 

From  this  time  the  Foxes  retired  to  the  south,  and 
for  ever  gave  up  the  war  mth  their  victorious  enemies. 

Tradition  says  that,  while  the  Enghsh  had  possession 
of  what  is  now  Minnesota,  and  while  they  occupied  a 
trading  post  near  the  confluence  of  the  waters  of  the 
Minnesota  and  Mississippi  rivers,  the  M'de-wa-kan-ton- 
wan  Dahkotahs  sent  the  "  bundle  of  tobacco"  to  their 
friends,  the  Wa-rpe-ton-wan,  Si-si-ton-wan,  and  I-han- 
kton-wan  bands,  who  joined  them  in  an  expedition 
against  the  Ojibways  of  Lake  Superior.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  great  strength  of  the  party,  they  found  and 
scalped  only  a  single  family  of  their  enemies. 

Soon  after  their  return  to  their  own  country,  a  quar- 
rel arose  between  a  M'dewakantonwan  named  Ixkatape 
(Toy)  and  their  trader.  The  Indian  name  of  the  trader 
was  Pagonta,  Mallard  Duck.  The  result  of  the  quarrel 
was,  that  one  day  as  the  unsuspecting  Englishman  sat 
quietly  smoking  his  Indian  pipe  in  his  rude  hut  near 
Mendota,  he  was  shot  dead. 

At  this  time  some  of  the  bands  of  the  Dahkotahs  had 
learned  to  depend  very  much  upon  the  trade  for  the 
means   by  which   they  subsisted  themselves.     At   an 

16 


226  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

earlier  period  it  would  have  been  to  them  a  matter  of 
trifling  importance  whether  a  white  man  wintered  with 
them  or  not. 

In  consequence  of  the  murder,  the  trade  was  tempo- 
rarily withdrawn.  This  was  at  that  time  a  severe 
measure,  and  reduced  these  bands  to  sufferings  which 
they  could  not  well  endure.  They  had  no  ammunition, 
no  traps,  no  blankets.  For  the  whole  long  dreary  winter, 
they  were  the  sport  of  cold  and  famine.  That  was  one 
of  the  severest  winters  that  the  M'dewakantonwans  ever 
experienced,  and  they  had  not  even  a  pipe  of  tobacco  to 
smoke  over  their  unprecedented  misery.  They  hardly 
survived. 

On  the  opening  of  spring,  after  much  deliberation,  it 
was  determined  that  the  brave  and  head  men  of  the 
band  should  take  the  murderer,  and  throw  themselves 
at  the  feet  of  their  English  Fathers  in  Canada.  Accord- 
ingly, a  party  of  about  one  hundred  of  their  best  men 
and  women  left  Mendota  early  in  the  season,  and  de- 
scended the  Mississippi  in  their  canoes  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Wisconsin.  From  thence  they  paddled  up  the 
Wisconsin,  and  down  the  Fox  river  to  Green  Bay.  By 
this  time,  however,  more  than  half  their  number  had 
meanly  enough  deserted  them.  While  they  were  en- 
camped at  Green  Bay,  all  but  six,  a  part  of  Avhom  were 
females,  gave  up  the  enterprise,  and  disgracefully  re- 
turned, bringing  the  prisoner  with  them.  The  courage, 
the  bone  and  sinew  of  the  M'dewakantonwan  band 
might  have  been  found  in  that  httle  remnant  of  six 
men  and  women. 

Wapashaw,  the  grandfather  of  the  present  chief  who 
bears  that  name,  was  the  man  of  that  truly  heroic  little 


WAPASHAW  AT  MONTREAL.  227 

half-dozen.  With  strong  hearts,  and  proud  perseverance, 
they  toiled  on  till  they  reached  Quebec. 

Wapashaw,  placing  himself  at  the  head  of  the  little 
deserted  band,  far  from  home  and  friends,  assumed  the 
guilt  of  the  cowardly  murderer,  and  nobly  gave  him- 
self up  into  the  hands  of  justice  for  the  rehef  of  his 
suffering  people. 

After  they  had  given  him  a  few  blows  with  the  stem 
of  the  pipe  through  which  Pagonta  was  smoking  when 
he  was  killed,  the  English  heard  Wapashaw  with  that 
noble  generosity  which  he  merited. 

He  represented  the  Dahkotahs  as  hving  in  seven 
bands,  and  received  a  like  number  of  chiefs'  medals; 
one  of  which  was  hung  about  his  own  neck,  and  the 
remaining  six  were  to  be  given,  one  to  each  of  the  chief 
men  of  the  other  bands. 

It  would  be  highly  gratif;ydng  to  know  who  were  the 
persons  who  received  those  six  chiefs'  medals;  but, 
although  not  more  than  one  century,  at  the  longest, 
has  passed,  since  Wapashaw's  visit  to  Canada,  it  cannot 
now  be  certainly  ascertained  to  which  divisions  of  the 
Dahkotah  tribe  they  belonged ;  it  seems  most  probable, 
however,  that  the  following  were  the  seven  divisions  to 
which  Wapashaw  referred,  viz. : — M'de-warkan-ton-wan, 
Wa-rpe-kute,  Wa-rpe-ton-wan,  Si-si-ton-wan,  I-han-kton- 
wan,  I-han-k ton-wan-nan,  and  Ti-ton-wan. 

The  names  of  this  little  band  of  braves  are  all  lost 
but  that  of  Wapashaw.  They  wintered  in  Canada,  and 
all  had  the  small-pox.  By  such  means  Wapashaw  re- 
opened the  door  of  trade,  and  became  richly  entitled  to 
the  appellation  of  the  Benefactor  of  the  Dahkotah  tribe. 
Tradition  has  preserved  the  name  of  no  greater  nor 
better  man  than  Wapashaw. 


228  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

Wapashaw  did  not,  however,  end  his  days  in  peace. 
The  vile  spirit  of  the  fratricidal  Cain  sjDrung  up  among 
his  brothers,  and  he  was  driven  into  exile  by  their  mur- 
derous envy.  To  their  everlasting  shame  be  it  recorded, 
that  he  died  far  away  from  the  M'dewakantonwan  vil- 
lage, on  the  Hoka  river.  It  is  said  that  the  father  of 
Wakute  was  his  physician,  who  attended  on  him  in  his 
last  illness.  The  Dahkotahs  will  never  forget  the  name 
of  Wapashaw.^ 

During  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  De  Peyster  was 
the  British  officer  in  command  at  Mackinaw.  Having 
made  an  alliance  with  Wapashaw,  the  chief  desired 
that,  on  his  annual  visit,  he  should  be  received  ^\T.th 
more  distinction  than  the  chiefs  of  other  nations.  This 
respect  was  to  be  exhibited  by  firuig  the  cannon  charged 
with  ball,  in  the  place  of  blank  cartridge,  on  his  arrival, 
so  that  his  young  warriors  might  be  accustomed  to  fire- 
arms of  large  calibre. 

On  the  sixth  of  July,  1779,  a  number  of  Choctaws, 
Chickasaws,  and  Ojibways  were  on  a  visit  to  the 
fort,  when  Wapashaw  appeared;  and  great  was  their 
astonishment  when  they  beheld  balls  discharged  from 
the  cannons  of  the  fort  flying  over  the  canoes,  and  the 
Dahkotah  braves  lifting  their  paddles  as  if  to  strike 
them,  and  crying  out,  "  Taya !  taj'a  !" 

De  Peyster,  who  was  fond  of  rhyming,  composed  a 
rude  song,  suggested  by  the  scene,  which  is  copied  as  a 
curiosity : — 

"  Ilail  to  the  chief  I  who  his  buffalo's  back  straddles, 
When  in  his  own  country,  far,  far,  from  this  fort ; 
Whose  brave  young  canoe-men,  here  hold  up  their  paddles. 
In  hopes,  that  the  whizzing  balls,  may  give  them  sport. 

1  G.  H.  Pond. 


EXPEDITION  TO  PRAIRIE  DU  CHIEN  IN  1780,  229 

Ilail  to  great  "Wapashaw ! 

He  comes,  beat  drums,  the  Scioux  chief  comes. 

"  They  now  strain  their  nerves  till  the  canoe  runs  bounding, 
As  swift  as  the  Solen  goose  skims  o'er  the  wave, 
While  on  the  Lake's  border,  a  guard  is  surrounding 
A  space,  where  to  land  the  Scioux  so  brave. 
Hail !  to  great  Wapashaw  ! 
Soldiers  !  your  triggers  draw  ! 
Guard  !  wave  the  colours,  and  give  him  the  drum. 
Choctaw  and  Chickasaw, 
Whoop  for  great  Wapashaw  ; 
Raise  the  portcullis,  the  King's  friend  is  come.^ 

When  the  news  reached  Mackinaw  that  Colonel 
George  R.  Clark,  in  command  of  Virginia  troops,  was 
taking  possession  of  the  Wabash  and  Mississippi  settle- 
ments, and  establishing  the  jurisdiction  of  Virginia,  the 
EngUsh  traders  became  uneasy  lest  the  Americans 
should  advance  to  the  far  North-west.  As  a  precau- 
tionary measure  they  formed  themselves  into  a  mihtia 
company,  of  which  John  McNamara  was  captain,  and 
a  trader  by  the  name  of  J.  Long  lieutenant. 

In  the  month  of  June,  1780,  the  intelhgence  was 
received  from  the  Mississippi  that  the  traders  had  depo- 
sited their  furs  at  the  Indian  settlement  of  Prairie  du 
Chien,  and  had  left  them  in  charge  of  Langlade,  the 
king  s  interpreter ;  and  also  that  the  Americans  were 
in  great  force  in  the  Illinois  country. 

By  request  of  the  commanding  officer  at  Mackinaw, 
Long  went  to  Prairie  du  Chien,  with  twenty  Canadians, 

'  These  uncouth  lines  are  from  a  he  seems  to  have  been  popular  with 

volume  of  miscellanies  published  by  the  traders.     When  he  was  ordered 

De  Peyster,  at  Dumfries,  Scotland,  in  to  another  post,  they  presented  him 

1812,  in  the  possession  of  lion.  L.  C.  with  a  silver  punch  bowl,  gilt  inside, 

Draper,  Secretary  of  the  Wisconsin  holding  a  gallon  and  a  half,  and  a 

Historical  Society.  De  Peyster's  wife  silver  ladle,  as  a  mark  of  regard, 
accompanied  him  to  Mackinaw,  and 


230  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

and  thirty-six  Fox  and  Dahkotah  Indians,  in  nine  large 
birch  canoes. 

One  day,  while  camping  on  the  Wisconsin  river,  they 
discovered  a  small  log  hut,  in  which  was  a  trader,  with 
his  arms  cut  off,  lying  on  his  back,  who  had  been  mur- 
dered by  the  Indians. 

The  next  day  the  expedition  arrived  at  the  "  Forks 
of  the  Mississippi,"  where  two  hundred  Fox  Indians,  on 
horseback,  armed  with  spears,  bows,  and  arrows,  awaited 
them.  Among  the  Dahkotah  Indians  of  the  party  was 
Wapashaw,  by  whose  order  the  birch  canoes  were  brought 
to  the  shore.  Upon  landing  the  Foxes  greeted  Wapashaw 
and  his  party,  and  invited  them  to  a  feast  of  dog,  bear, 
and  beaver  meat. 

After  the  feast  a  council  was  called,  when  the  chief 
of  the  Foxes  addressed  Wapashaw  to  this  effect : — 

"  Brothers,  we  are  happy  to  see  you ;  we  have  no 
bad  heart  against  you.  Although  we  are  not  the  same 
nation  by  language,  our  hearts  are  the  same.  We  are 
all  Indians,  and  are  happy  to  hear  that  our  Great  Father 
has  pity  on  us,  and  sends  us  wherewithal  to  cover  us, 
and  enable  us  to  hunt." 

To  which  Wapashaw  replied  : — 

"  It  is  true,  my  children,  our  Great  Father,  has  sent 
me  this  way  to  take  the  skins  and  furs  that  are  in  the 
Dog's  Field  (Prairie  du  Chien),  under  Captain  Lang- 
lade's charge,  lest  the  Great  Knives  (Americans)  should 
plunder  them.  I  am  come  with  the  white  men  to  give 
you  wherewithal  to  cover  you,  and  ammunition  to 
hunt." 

Arriving  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  the  peltries  were  found 
in  a  log-house,  guarded  by  Captain  Langlade  and  some 
Indians.     After  resting  a  short  period,  the  canoes  were 


FORMATION  OF  NORTH-WEST  COMPANY.  231 

filled  with  three  hundred  packs  of  the  best  skins,  and 
the  balance  burned  to  keep  them  from  the  Americans, 
who  a  few  days  afterwards  arrived  for  the  purpose 
of  attacking  the  post. 

At  this  period  the  M'dewakantonwan  Dahkotahs  had 
retired  from  the  region  of  Mille  Lac,  and  were  residing 
at  Penneshaw's^  post,  on  the  Minnesota,  a  few  miles 
above  its  mouth. 

After  the  disturbance  of  commerce,  incident  to  the 
cession  of  Canada,  had  ceased,  the  trade  in  furs  began 
to  revive.  In  the  year  1766,  traders  left  Mackinaw, 
and  proceeded  as  far  as  Kamanistigoya,  thirty  miles 
east  of  Grand  Portage.  Thomas  Curry  shortly  after 
ventured  as  far  as  the  valley  of  the  Saskatchewan,  and 
his  success  in  obtaining  furs  induced  a  Mr.  James  Fin- 
lay  to  establish  a  post  in  the  same  valley,  as  high  as 
the  forty-eighth  and  a  half  degree  of  latitude. 

The  Hudson  Bay  Company  were  uneasy  at  this  en- 
croachment of  private  enterprise  upon  the  territory,  and 
endeavoured  to  counteract  it,  though  without  success. 

About  the  year  1780,  two  establishments  on  the 
Assiniboine  river  were  destroj'ed  by  the  Indians,  and  a 
plot  laid  to  extirpate  the  traders,  but  that  "  noisome 
pestilence,"  the  small  pox,  breaking  out  among  the 
tribes,  their  attention  was  diverted. 

During  the  winter  of  1783-4,  there  was  a  partnership 
formed  by  a  number  of  traders,  which  was  called  the 
North-west  Company.  There  were  at  first  but  sixteen 
shares,  and  the  management  of  the  whole  was  entrusted 
to  the  brothers  Frobishcr  and  McTavish,  at  Montreal. 

A  few  that  were  dissatisfied,  formed    an  opposition 

*  The  same  infliviiliial  called  Penneshon  and  Pinchon. 


232  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

company,  one  of  the  members  of  which  was  the  explorer 
and  author  Alexander  Mackenzie.  After  a  keen  rivalry, 
this  company  was  merged  with  the  North-west  in  1787, 
and  the  number  of  shares  was  increased  to  twenty. 

From  that  time  the  fur  trade  of  the  north-west  was 
systematized.  The  agents  at  Montreal  received  the 
goods  from  England,  and  two  of  them  went  every  year 
to  the  Grand  Portage  of  Lake  Superior,  to  receive  packs 
and  ship  the  furs  for  Europe. 

In  1798,  the  company  was  re-organized,  new  partners 
admitted,  and  the  shares  increased  to  forty-six. 

The  magnitude  of  the  operations  of  the  company  sur- 
prise us.  At  the  close  of  the  last  century,  they  em- 
ployed fifty  clerks,  seventy-one  interpreters,  eleven 
hundred  and  twenty  canoe-men.  Five  clerks,  eighteen 
guides,  and  three  hundred  and  fifty  canoe-men  were 
employed  between  the  head  of  Lake  Superior  and  Mon- 
treal. The  others  were  in  Minnesota,  and  the  country 
above.  The  canoe-men  were  known  as  "  Pork  Eaters," 
or  "•  Goers  and  Comers,"  and  "  Winterers,"  the  latter  so 
called  because  they  entered  the  interior  and  passed  the 
winter  in  traffic  with  the  Indians,  received  double  wages, 
and  were  hired  from  one  to  three  years.  The  clerks 
were  a  kind  of  apprentices,  and  received  a  salary  of  one 
hundred  pounds,  with  their  board  and  clothing,  with 
the  prospect  of  being  taken  into  partnership,  if  they 
proved  good  business  men.  The  guides  and  interpreters 
were  paid  in  goods. 

In  July  the  "  Winterers"  began  to  assemble  at  Grand 
Portage  to  settle  their  accounts  and  receive  new  outfits, 
and  at  times  more  than  one  thousand  were  congregated. 
The  mode  of  living  at  the  Portage  was  truly  baronial. 
The  proprietors,  clerks,  guides,  and  interpreters  all  ate  in 


TRADERS  AT  SANDY  LAKE  AND  PINE  RIVER.  233 

one  large  hall,  at  different  tables,  and,  the  labours  of  the 
day  over,  the  fiddlers  were  brought  in  and  there  was  a 
merry  time.  The  trader  in  his  lonely  outpost,  con- 
sidered the  reunions  at  Lake  Superior  halcyon  days,  and 
was  buoyed  up  by  anticipating  the  annual  visit. 

The  love  of  adventure  has  often  led  educated  young 
men  "into  the  woods,"  as  well  as  "before  the  mast." 
Sailor  life  and  Indian  trade,  unless  there  is  strong  reli- 
gious principle,  are  apt  to  render  one  "  earthly,  sensual 
and  devilish."  There  have  been  scenes  enacted  in  Min- 
nesota which  will  never  be  known  till  the  judgment 
day,  for  ignorance  of  which  we  should  be  grateful. 

The  history  of  one  trader  at  an  outpost,  is  substan- 
tially the  history  of  all. 

In  the  year  1784,  Alexander  Kay  visited  Montreal 
to  obtain  an  outfit  for  the  purpose  of  trading  at  Fon  du 
Lac,  Leech  Lake,  and  vicinity  in  Minnesota.  A  young 
man,  educated  at  the  College  of  Quebec,  named 
Perrault,  became  his  clerk.  They  arrived  at  La  Pointe 
on  the  first  of  November. 

On  the  little  lake  at  the  entrance  of  the  St.  Louis 
river,  they  found  the  quarters  of  Default,  a  clerk  of  the 
North-west  Company. 

Kay  while  here  was  mad,  in  consequence  of  intoxica- 
tion, and  with  obstinacy  pushed  up  the  St.  Louis  river, 
with  only  a  bag  of  flour,  a  keg  of  butter,  and  of  sugar, 
while  his  party  consisted  of  his  squaw  mistress, 
Perrault,  and  fourteen  employees.  At  the  portage  of 
the  river  he  met  his  partner,  Mr.  Harris,  also  without 
food,  except  some  salt  meat. 

The  men  now  remonstrated  with  Kay  about  proceed- 
ing inland,  with  no  provision  for  the  winter ;  but  draw- 


234  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

ing  a  pistol,  he  threatened  to  shoot  those  that  did  not 
follow. 

Taking  Mr.  Harris,  an  Indian  named  Big  Marten, 
and  seven  men,  he  pushed  on  in  advance,  and  the  next 
day  sent  back  word  that  he  had  gone  on  to  Pine  River,^ 
and  desiring  his  clerk  to  winter  at  the  Savanne  portage 
if  possible. 

After  eleven  days'  hard  toil  amid  ice  and  snow,  sub- 
sisting on  the  pods  of  the  wild  rose,  and  the  sap  of 
trees,  Perrault  and  the  men  reached  the  point  designated. 
For  a  time  they  lived  there  on  a  few  roots  and  fish,  but 
about  Christmas,  hunger  compelled  them  to  seek  their 
employer  at  Pine  River.  Weak  in  body,  they  passed 
through  Sandy  Lake,  descended  the  river,  and  at  last 
arrived  at  Kay's  post  at  Pine  River.  After  he  was 
recruited,  Perrault  was  despatched  to  the  Savanne 
portage,  where,  with  his  men,  he  built  a  log  hut. 

Toward  the  close  of  February,  Brechet,  Big  Marten, 
and  other  Ojibway  Indians,  brought  in  meat.  Mr.  Kay 
shortly  after  visited  his  clerk,  and  told  the  troubles  he 
had  with  the  Indians,  who  exceedmgly  hated  him.  In 
April  Kay  and  Perrault  visited  Sandy  Lake,  where  Bras 
Casse,  or  Broken  Arm,  or  Bo-koon-ik,  was  the  Ojibway 
chief  On  the  second  of  May,  Kay  went  out  to  meet 
his  partner  Harris  coming  from  Pine  River. 

During  his  absence,  Katawabada,^  and  Mongozid,  and 
other  Indians,  came  and  demanded  rum.  After  much 
entreaty  Perrault  gave  them  a  little.  Soon  Harris, 
Kay,  and  Pinot  arrived,  all  intoxicated.  The  Indians 
were  ripe  for  mischief     An  Indian,  named  Le  Cousin 

^  Pine  River  is  a  tributary  of  the     possible  to  reach  Leech  Lake  by  this 
Mississippi,  about  a  daj^'s  journey     stream. 

in  a  canoe  from  Sandy  Lake.     It  is        ^  Katawabada   or   Parted  Teeth, 

died  at  Sandy  Lake  1828. 


KAY  WOUNDED  IN  A  DRUNKEN  REVEL.  235 

by  the  Frencli,  came  to  Kay's  tent,  and  asked  for  rum, 
Kay  told  him  "  No,"  and  pushed  him  out;  the  Indian  then 
drew  a  concealed  knife,  and  stabbed  him  in  the  neck. 
Kay,  picking  up  a  carving  knife,  chased  him,  but  before 
he  could  reach  his  lodge,  the  passage  was  blocked  up  by 
Indians. 

The  assailant's  mother,  approachmg  Kay,  said,  "  Eng- 
lishman !  do  you  come  to  kill  me  ?"  and,  while  implor- 
ing for  her  son,  with  savage  cruelty  stabbed  him  in  the 
side. 

Le  Petit  Mort,  a  friend  of  the  wounded  trader,  took 
up  liis  quarrel,  and  sallying  forth,  seized  Cul  Blanc,  an 
Ojibway,  by  the  scalp  lock,  and,  drawing  his  head  back, 
he  plunged  a  knife  into  his  breast,  exclaiming  "  Die, 
thou  dog!" 

The  Indian  women,  becoming  alarmed  at  this  bac- 
chanal, went  into  the  lodges  and  emptied  out  all  the 
rum  they  could  find. 

On  the  fifth  of  May,  Kay's  wound  was  better,  and 
sending  for  Harris  and  Perrault  to  come  to  his  tent,  he 
said : — 

"  Gentlemen,  you  see  my  situation ;  I  have  dctcnnined 
to  leave  you  at  all  hazards,  to  set  out  for  Mackinaw, 
with  seven  men,  accompanied  by  the  Bras  Cass^  and 
wife.  Assort  the  remainder  of  the  goods,  ascend  to 
Leech  Lake,  and  wait  there  for  the  return  of  the  Pil- 
lagers, who  are  out  on  the  prairies.  Complete  the  inland 
trade." 

Kay,  then  taking  hold  of  Perrault's  hand,  Harris 
having  retired,  said  : — 

"  My  dear  friend !  you  understand  the  language  of 
the  Ojibways,  Mr.  Harris  would  go  out  with  me,  but 
he  must  accompany  you.     He  is  a  good  trader,  but  he 


236  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

has,  like  myself  and  others,  a  strong  passion  for  drink- 
ing, which  takes  away  his  judgment." 

In  the  afternoon  Kay  left,  in  a  litter,  for  Mackinaw. 
Perrault  and  Harris  proceeded  to  Leech  Lake,  where 
they  had  a  successful  trade  with  the  Pillagers. 

Keturning  to  the  Savannah  river,  they  found  J. 
Reaume  there,  and  a  Mr.  Piquet.  The  former  had 
wintered  at  the  fort  of  Red  Lake,  at  its  entrance  into 
Red  River. 

They  all  proceeded  by  way  of  the  Fond  du  Lac  to 
Mackinaw,  where  they  arrived  on  the  twenty-fourth  of 
May,  and  found  Kay  in  much  pain.  The  latter  soon  after 
this  started  for  Montreal,  but  his  wound  suppurated  on 
the  journey,  and  he  died  at  the  Lake  of  the  Two  Moun- 
tains, August  twenty-eighth,  1785.^ 

About  the  period  of  this  occurrence,  Prairie  du  Chien 
made  its  transition,  from  a  temporary  encampment  of 
Indians  and  their  traders,  to  a  hamlet.  Among  the 
first  settlers  were  Giard,  Antaya,  and  Dubuque. 

In  the  year  1780,  the  wife  of  Peosta,  a  Fox  warrior, 
discovered  a  large  vein  of  lead,  in  Iowa,  on  the  west 
bank  of  the  Mississippi. 

At  a  council  held  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  in  1788,  Julien 
Dubuque  obtained  permission  to  work  the  lead  mines, 
on  and  near  the  site  of  the  city  that  bears  his  name, 
and  the  bluff,  on  which  is  the  little  stone  house  that 
covers  his  remains. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  last  century  we  find  Dick- 
son, Renville,  Grignon,  and  others,  trading  with  the 
Ojibways  and  Dahkotahs  of  Minnesota.    In  the  employ- 

^  "  History,  condition,  and  pros-  Mr.  Schoolcraft  says  that  Harris 
pects  of  the  Indian  Tribes  of  the  was  a  native  of  Albany,  and  was 
United  States,"  vol.  iii.  alive  in  1830. 


JUDGE  PERLIER,  TRADER  IX  MINNESOTA.  237 

ment  of  the  latter,  at  his  trading-house  on  the  river 
St.  Croix,  was  James  Perher,  a  youth,  who  in  the  next 
century  became  one  of  the  most  useful  citizens  of  Green 
Bay,  Wisconsin.  He  was  a  native  of  Montreal,  and 
arrived  at  Green  Bay  in  1791.  Two  years  after  he  was 
employed  by  an  old  trader,  Pierre  Grignon,  to  act  as 
clerk,  at  his  trading  post  on  the  St.  Croix.  While 
there  he  found,  with  a  band  of  Menomonees,  an  inte- 
resting girl,  the  daughter  of  a  woman  that  had  been 
abandoned  by  a  French  trader,  with  whom  he  fell  in 
love,  and  married.  In  the  year  1797,  in  company  with 
Dickson,  he  wintered  near  Sauk  Rapids.  When  Pike 
visited  the  country  he  was  still  engaged  in  trading 
above  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  and  he  gave  this 
young  officer  much  information,  which  he  deemed  valua- 
ble. Returning  to  Wisconsin  he  acted  as  chief  justice 
of  Brown  county,  for  a  period  of  sixteen  years,  and  died 
in  1839,  much  respected. 

While  Perlier  was  wintering  on  the  St.  Croix,  a 
broken-down  merchant  of  Montreal,  who  had  married 
a  lady  of  wealth  in  that  city,  a  pompous  and  ignorant 
man,  full  of  eccentricity,  by  the  name  of  Charles 
Reaume,  was  his  companion.  To  the  early  settlers  of 
Green  Bay  he  was  known  as  Judge  Reaume.  While 
on  the  St.  Croix  the  following  anecdote  is  related  of 
him : — 

"  One  day  he  invited  Perlier  and  other  traders  in  the 
vicinity  to  dine  with  him.  The  guests  had  arrived,  and 
the  venison,  cooked  in  bears'  oil  and  maple  sugar  was 
prepared,  when  Amable  Chevalier,  a  half-breed,  told 
Reaume  that  there  were  not  plates  enough  on  the  table, 
as  there  was  none  for  him.  '  Yes,  there  are  enough,' 
said  Reaume,  sternly;  when  the  half-breed  tore  from 


238  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

Reaume's  head  his  red  cap,  and  spreading  it  upon  the 
table,  filled  it  with  the  hashed  venison.  Reaume,  in 
retaliation,  seizing  a  handful  of  meat,  threw  it  into  the 
half-breed's  face.  Becoming  much  excited,  it  was  neces- 
sary for  the  guests  to  part  the  belligerents."^ 

In  the  year  1794,  the  North-west  Company  built  an 
establishment  at  Sandy  Lake,  with  bastions,  and  ajDcr- 
tures  in  the  angles  for  musketry.  It  was  enclosed  with 
pickets  a  foot  square  and  thirteen  feet  in  height.  There 
were  three  gates,  which  were  always  closed  after  the 
Indians  had  received  liquor.  "  The  stockade  enclosed 
two  rows  of  buildings,  containing  the  provision  store, 
workshop,  warehouse,  room  for  clerks,  and  accommodar 
tion  for  the  men.  On  the  west  and  south-west  angles 
of  the  fort  were  four  acres  of  ground,  enclosed  with 
pickets,  and  devoted  to  the  culture  of  the  potato." 

The  British  posts  were  not  immediately  surrendered 
after  the  treaty  of  1783  between  Great  Britain  and 
America,  and  led  to  some  ill-feeling  upon  the  part  of 
the  United  States.  When  Baron  Steuben  was  sent  by 
Washington,  in  1784,  to  Detroit,  to  take  possession  of 
the  fort,  the  British  commandant  informed  him  that  he 
had  no  authority  to  deliver  up  the  post,  as  it  was  on 
Indian  territory.  By  the  presence  of  British  officials 
among  the  Indian  tribes,  a  hostile  feeling  was  main- 
tained towards  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  which 
led  to  the  wars  with  the  Indians  toward  the  close  of  the 
last  century. 

In  the  treaty  effected  by  Mr.  Jay,  Great  Britain 
agreed  to  withdraw  her  troops  from  all  posts  and  places 
within  the  boundary  lines   assigned  by  the  treaty  of 

^  Wisconsin  Historical  Society  Collections,  vol.  iii. 


NORTH-WEST  CO.  ESTABLISH  POSTS  IN  MINNESOTA.        239 

peace  to  the  United  States,  on  or  before  the  first  day 
of  June,  1796.  The  treaty  also  provided  that  all  British 
settlers  and  traders  might  remain  for  one  year,  and 
enjoy  all  their  former  privileges  Avithout  being  com- 
pelled to  be  citizens  of  the  United  States. 

Taking  advantage  of  this  clause,  the  North-west 
Company,  through  the  Fond  du  Lac  department,  dotted 
every  suitable  place  in  Minnesota  with  trading  posts. 

They  not  only  encircled  the  lakes,  but  did  not  pay 
duties  nor  apply  for  licenses.  At  these  posts  the  British 
flag  was  hoisted;  and  they  frequently  created  civil 
chiefs  among  the  Indians,  to  whom  they  presented  the 
colours  and  medals  of  his  Britannic  majesty. 


240  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

On  the  seventh  of  May,  1800,  the  North-west  terri- 
tory, which  included  all  of  the  western  country  east  of 
the  Mississippi,  was  divided.  The  portion  not  desig- 
nated as  Ohio  was  organized  as  the  Territory  of  Indiana. 

On  the  twentieth  of  December,  1803,  the  province  of 
Louisiana,  of  which  that  portion  of  Minnesota  west  of 
the  Mississippi  was  a  part,  was  officially  delivered  up 
by  the  French,  who  had  just  obtained  it  from  the 
Spaniards,  according  to  treaty  stipulations. 

To  the  transfer  of  Louisiana  by  France,  after  twenty 
days'  possession,  Spain  at  first  objected;  but  in  1804 
withdrew  all  opposition. 

President  Jefferson  now  deemed  it  an  object  of  para- 
mount importance  for  the  United  States  to  explore  the 
country  so  recently  acquired,  and  make  the  acquaint- 
ance of  the  tribes  residing  therein ;  and  steps  were  taken 
for  an  expedition  to  the  upper  Mississippi. 

Early  in  March,  1804,  Captain  Stoddard,  of  the 
United  States  army,  arrived  at  St.  Louis,  the  agent  of 
the  French  Republic,  to  receive  from  the  Spanish 
authorities  the  possession  of  the  country,  which  he 
immediately  transferred  to  the  United  States. 


ORGANIZATION  OF  TERRITORIES.  241 

As  the  old  settlers,  on  the  tenth  of  March,  saw  the 
ancient  flag  of  Spain  displaced  by  that  of  the  United 
States,  the  tears  coursed  down  their  cheeks. 

On  the  twentieth  of  the  same  month  the  territory  of 
upper  Louisiana  was  constituted,  comprising  the  present 
states  of  Arkansas,  Missouri,  Iowa,  and  a  large  portion 
of  Minnesota, 

On  the  eleventh  of  January,  1805,  the  territory  of 
Michigan  was  organized. 

The  first  American  officer  who  visited  Minnesota, 
on  business  of  a  public  nature,  was  one  who  was  an 
ornament  to  his  profession,  and  in  energy  and  endu- 
rance a  true  representative  of  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States.  We  refer  to  the  gallant  Zebulon  Montgomery 
Pike,  who  afterwards  fell  in  battle  at  York,  Upper 
Canada,  and  whose  loss  was  justly  mourned  by  the 
whole  nation. 

When  a  young  lieutenant,  he  was  ordered  by  General 
Wilkinson  to  visit  the  region  now  known  as  Minnesota, 
and  expel  the  British  trader^  who  were  found  violating 
the  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  form  alliances  with 
the  Indians.  With  only  a  few  common  soldiers,  he 
was  obliged  to  do  the  work  of  several  men.  At  times 
he  would  precede  his  party  for  miles  to  reconnoitre,  and 
then  he  would  do  the  duty  of  hunter. 

During  the  day  he  would  perform  the  part  of  sur- 
veyor, geologist,  and  astronomer,  and  at  night,  though 
hungry  and  fatigued,  his  lofty  enthusiasm  kept  him 
awake  until  he  copied  the  notes,  and  plotted  the  courses 
of  the  day. 

On  the  fourth  of  September,  1805,  Pike  arrived  at 
Prairie   du    Chien,  from    St.  Louis,  and   was   politely  ■ 

16 


242  HISTORY  OF  xMINNESOTA. 

treated  by  the  traders,  Fisher/  Frazer,^  and  Woods, 
who  were  there  at  that  time. 

On  the  eighth,  in  two  batteaux,  mth  Joseph  Renville 
and  Pierre  Rosseau  as  interpreters,  he  continued  his 
ascent  of  the  river. 

On  the  twelfth  he  was  at  the  Prairie  La  Crosse,  so 
■  called  from  the  Indian  game  of  ball,  where  he  noticed 
some  earth  works,  and  holes  that  had  been  dug  by  the 
Dahkotahs  to  screen  their  wives  and  children  during 
battle.  At  this  place,  Mr.  Frazer,  of  Prairie  du  Chien, 
overtook  him. 

Amid  terrific  thunder  claps,  forked  lightning,  and 
torrents  of  rain,  he  reached,  on  the  seventeenth.  Point 
de  Sable,  on  Lake  Pepin,  where  he  took  shelter,  and 
remained  the  rest  of  the  day. 

He  here  found  a  trader  by  the  name  of  Cameron,  and 
his  son,  also  a  young  man,  John  Rudsdell.  The  next 
day  he,  in  company  with  Cameron,  came  to  Canoe  river, 
where  he  found  a  small  band  under  Red  Wing,  the 
second  war  chief  of  the  Dahkotahs. 

On  the  twenty-first  he  breakfasted  at  the  village  of 
the  Kaposia  band,  which  was  on  the  site  just  below 
Saint  Paul,  now  known  as  Pig's  Eye.  The  same  day  he 
passed  the  encampment  of  a  trader,  J.  B.  Faribault,^ 

^  Fisher  was  a  trader  at  Prarie  du  '  "Jean  Baptist  Faribault  is  the 
Chien  until  1815.  He  then  went  to  the  last  survivor  of  the  old  traders.  He 
Red  River  of  the  North  in  the  service  is  now  more  than  eighty  years  of  age, 
of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company.  From  and  resides  at  Faribault,  in  Rice 
1824  to  '26,  he  was  at  Lake  Traverse,  county,  with  his  sons.  He  is  a 
the  source  of  the  Minnesota.  One  nativeof  Canada,  and  removed  to  this 
of  his  daughters  is  the  mother  of  country,  in  1798,  fifty-seven  years 
Joseph  Rolette  of  Pembina,  by  a  ago.  He  enjoyed  considerable  ad- 
former  husband,  and  she  is  now  vantages  of  education  in  early  youth. 
♦  married  to  H.  L.  Dousman,  Esq.  His  career  in  this  region  has  been 

^  The  father  of  Jack   Frazer  of  marked  with  more  of  adverse  fortune 

Mendota?  than   usually   occurs,    even   in    the 


SALUTE  FROM  LITTLE  CROW. 


243 


which  was  three  miles  below  Mendota.  Arriving  at 
the  confluence  of  the  Minnesota  and  the  Mississippi,  he 
pitched  his  camp  on  the  north-east  jDoint  of  the  isUmd. 

The  next  day  was  Sunday,  and  Little  Crow,  of  the 
Kaposia  village,  arrived  with  one  hundred  and  fifty 
warriors,  ascending  the  hill  which  is  now  covered  by 
Fort  Snelhng,  they  saluted  him  Avith  balls  according  to 
their  custom.  During  the  day  he  went  up  to  the  Dah- 
kotah  village,  just  above  Mendota,  to  visit  Mr.  Cameron. 

On  Monday  he  held  a  council  with  the  Dahkotahs, 
and  obtained  a  grant  of  land  for  the  use  of  the  United 
States.^     His  speech  will  always  be  mteresting,  as  the 


perilous  life  of  an  Indian  trader. 
Shortly  after  the  close  of  the  war 
with  Great  Britain  he  was  robbed 
by  the  Winnebagoes  at  Prarie  du 
Chien,  of  a  large  stock  of  goods,  for 
which  he  never  received  any  remu- 
neration. Some  years  subsequently 
he  fixed  his  residence  upon  Pike's 
Island,  near  Fort  St.  Anthony  (now 
Snelling),  and  had  barely  established 
himself  in  his  vocation  of  trader  when 
he  was  forced  by  the  mandate  of  the 
commandant  of  the  fort  to  abandon 
his  buildings,  and  to  betake  himself, 
with  his  movable  property,  to  the 
bottom  land  on  the  east  side  of  the 
Mississippi,  where  he  erected  new 
tenements.  The  following  spring, 
the  water,  which  was  unusually 
high,  carried  oflF  his  houses  and  live 
stock,  he  and  his  family  escaping  in 
boats,  by  means  of  which  he  was 
fortunately  enabled  to  save  his  goods 
and  furs  from  destruction.  Still  not 
discouraged,  he  built  a  house  at  the 
point    now    known     as     Mendota, 


where  he  resided  many  years,  except 
during  the  winter  months,  when  he 
assumed  charge  of  his  trading  post 
at  Little  Rapids,  on  the  Minnesota 
river." — Sibley's  Address. 

^  Whereas,  at  a  conference  held  be- 
tween the  United  States  of  America, 
and  the  Sioux  Nation  of  Indians, 
Lieutenant  Z.  M.  Pike,  of  the  army 
of  the  United  States,  and  the  chiefs 
and  the  warriors  of  said  tribe,  have 
agreed  to  the  following  articles, 
which,  when  ratified  and  approved 
of  by  the  proper  authority,  shall  be 
binding  on  both  parties  : 

Art.  1.  That  the  Sioux  Nation 
grant  unto  the  United  States,  for  the 
purpose  of  establishment  of  military 
posts,  nine  miles  square,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  St.  Croix,  also  from 
below  the  confluence  of  the  Missis- 
sippi and  St.  Peters,  up  the  Missis- 
sippi to  include  the  Falls  of  St. 
Anthony,  extending  nine  miles  on 
each  side  of  the  river,  that  the  Sioux 
Nation  grants  to  the  United  States 


244  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

first  expression  of  the  views  of  the  United  States  to  the 
Dahkotahs : — 

"  Brothers — I  am  happy  to  meet  you  here  at  this 
council  fire,  which  your  father  has  sent  me  to  kindle, 
and  to  take  you  by  the  hands  as  our  children.  We 
having  but  lately  acquired  from  the  Spanish  the  exten- 
sive territory  of  Louisiana,  our  general  has  thought 
proper  to  send  out  a  number  of  his  warriors  to  visit  all 
his  red  children;  to  tell  them  his  will,  and  to  hear 
what  request  they  may  have  to  make  of  their  father. 
I  am  happy  the  choice  has  fell  on  me  to  come  this  road, 
as  I  find  my  brothers,  the  Sioux,  ready  to  listen  to  my 
words. 

''  Brothers — It  is  the  wish  of  our  Government  to  esta- 
blish military  posts  on  the  Upper  Mississippi,  at  such 
places  as  might  be  thought  expedient.  I  have,  there- 
fore, examined  the  country,  and  have  pitched  on  the 
mouth  of  the  river  St.  Croix,  this  place,  and  the  Falls 
of  St.  Anthony,  I  therefore  wish  you  to  grant  to  the 
United  States,  nine  miles  square,  at  St.  Croix,  and  at 
this  place,  from  a  league  below  the  confluence  of  the  St. 
Peters  and  Mississippi,  to  a  league  above  St.  Anthony, 

the  full  sovereignty  and  power  over  undersigned,  have  hereunto  set  our 

said  district  forever.  hands  and  seals,  at  the  mouth  of  the 

Art.  2.     That,  in  consideration  of  river  St.  Peters,  on  the  23d  day  of 

the  above  grants,  the  United  States  September,  1805. 

shall  pay  (filled  up  by  the  Senate  Z.  M.  Pike.                       [l.  s.] 

with  2,000  dollars).  1st  Lieut,  and  agent  at  the  above 

Art.  3.     The  United  States  pro-  conference, 

miss,  on  their  part,  to  permit  the  his 

Sioux  to  pass  and  re-pass,  hunt,  or  Le  Petit  Corbeau.    M    [l.  s.] 

make  other  use  of  the  said  districts  mark 

as  they  have  formerly  done,  without  his 

any    other     exception    than     those  Way  Ago  Enagee,      ><    [l.  s.J 

specified  in  article  first.  mark 

In    testimony    whereof,   we,   the 


PIKE'S  SPEECH  AT  MOUTH  OF  MINNESOTA.  245 

extending  three  leagues  on  each  side  of  the  river ;  and 
as  we  are  a  people  who  are  accustomed  to  have  all  our 
acts  Avritten  down,  in  order  to  have  them  handed  to  our 
children,  I  have  drawn  up  a  form  of  an  agreement, 
which  we  will  both  sign  in  the  presence  of  the  traders 
now  present.  After  we  know  the  terms,  we  will  fill  it 
up,  and  have  it  read  and  interpreted  to  you. 

"  Brothers — Those  posts  are  intended  as  a  benefit  to 
jou.  The  old  chiefs  now  present  must  see  that  their 
situation  improves  by  a  communication  with  the  whites. 
It  is  the  mtention  of  the  United  States  to  establish  at 
those  posts  factories,  in  which  the  Indians  may  procure 
all  their  things  at  a  cheaper  and  better  rate  than  they 
do  now,  or  than  your  traders  can  afford  to  sell  them  to 
you,  as  they  are  single  men,  who  come  far  in  small 
boats.  But  your  fathers  are  many  and  strong,  and  will 
come  with  a  strong  arm,  in  large  boats.  There  will 
also  be  chiefs  here,  who  can  attend  to  the  wants  of  their 
brothers,  without  their  sending  or  going  all  the  way  to 
St.  Louis,  and  will  see  the  traders  that  go  up  your 
rivers,  and  know  that  they  are  good  men. 

"  Brothers — Another  object  your  father  has  at  heart, 
is  to  endeavour  to  make  peace  between  you  and  the 
Chippeways.  You  have  now  been  a  long  time  at  war, 
and  when  will  you  stop  ?  If  neither  side  will  lay  down 
the  hatchet,  your  paths  will  always  be  red  with  Ijlood ; 
but  if  you  will  consent  to  make  peace,  and  suffer  your 
father  to  bury  the  hatchet  between  you,  I  will  endea- 
vour to  bring  down  some  of  the  Chippeway  chiefs  with 
me  to  St.  Louis,  where  the  good  work  can  be  completed, 
under  the  auspices  of  your  mutual  father.  I  am  much 
pleased  to  see  that  the  young  warriors  have  halted  here 
to  hear  my  words  this  day ;  and  as  I  know  it  is  hard 


246  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

for  a  warrior  to  be  struck  and  not  strike  again,  I  will 
send  (by  the  first  Chippeway  I  meet)  word  to  their 
chiefs  : — That  if  they  have  not  yet  felt  your  tomahawk, 
it  is  not  because  you  have  no  legs,  nor  the  hearts  of 
men,  but  because  you  have  listened  to  the  voice  of  your 
father. 

"  Brothers — If  the  chiefs  do  not  listen  to  the  voice  of 
theii*  father,  and  continue  to  commit  murders  on  you 
and  our  traders,  they  will  call  down  the  vengeance  of 
the  Americans  ;  for  they  are  not  like  a  blind  man  walk- 
ing into  the  fire.  They  were  once  at  war  with  us,  and 
joined  to  all  the  Northern  Indians,  were  defeated  at 
Roche  de  Boeuf,  and  were  obliged  to  sue  for  peace — 
that  peace  we  granted  them.  They  know  we  are  not 
children,  but,  like  all  wise  people,  are  slow  to  shed 
blood. 

"  Brothers — Your  old  men  probably  know,  that  about 
thirty  years  ago  we  were  subject  to,  and  governed  by 
the  king  of  the  English ;  but  he,  not  treating  us  like 
children,  we  would  no  longer  acknowledge  him  as  father 
— and  after  ten  years  war,  in  which  he  lost  one  hundred 
thousand  men,  he  acknowledged  us  a  free  and  inde- 
pendent nation.  They  know  that  not  many  years 
since,  we  received  Detroit,  Michilimackinac,  and  all  the 
posts  on  the  lakes,  from  the  English,  and  now  but  the 
other  day,  Louisiana  from  the  Spanish ;  so  that  we  put 
one  foot  on  the  sea  at  the  east,  and  the  other  on  the 
sea  at  the  west ;  and,  if  once  children,  are  now  men ; 
yet,  I  think  the  traders  who  come  from  Canada  are  bad 
birds  amongst  the  Chippeways,  and  instigate  them  to 
make  war  on  their  red  brothers,  the  Sioux,  in  order  to 
prevent  our  traders  from  going  high  up  the  Mississippi. 


PIKE'S  SPEECH  AT  MOUTH  OF  MINNESOTA.  247 

This  I  shall  inquire  into,  and,  if  so,  warn  those  persons 
of  their  ill  conduct. 

"  Brothers — Mr.  Choteau  was  sent  by  your  father  to 
the  Osage  Nation,  with  one  of  his  young  chiefs.  He 
sailed  some  days  before  me,  and  had  not  time  to  pro- 
cure the  medals  which  I  am  told  he  promised  to  send 
up,  but  they  will  be  procured. 

"  Brothers — I  wish  you  to  have  some  of  your  head 
chiefs  to  be  ready  to  go  down  with  me  in  the  spring. 
From  the  head  of  the  St.  Pierre,  also,  such  other 
chiefs  as  you  may  think  proper,  to  the  number  of  four 
or  five.  When  I  pass  here,  on  my  way,  I  will  send 
you  Avord  at  what  time  you  will  meet  me  at  the  Prairie 
des  Chiens. 

"  Brothers — I  expect  that  you  will  give  orders  to  all 
your  3'oung  warriors  to  respect  my  Jlag  and  protection 
which  I  may  extend  to  the  Chippeway  chiefs  who  ma}- 
come  down  with  me  in  the  spring ;  for  was  a  dog  to  run 
to  my  lodge  for  safety,  his  enemy  must  walk  over  me 
to  hurt  him. 

''  Brothers — Here  is  a  flag,  which  I  wish  to  send  to 
Gens  de  Feuilles,  to  show  them  they  are  not  forgotten 
by  their  father.  I  wish  the  comrade  of  their  chief  to 
take  it  on  himself  to  deliver  it  with  my  words. 

"  Brothers — I  am  told  that  hitherto  the  traders  have 
made  a  practice  of  selling  rum  to  you.  All  of  you,  in 
your  right  senses,  must  know  that  it  is  injurious;  and 
occasions  quarrels  and  murders  amongst  yourselves. 
For  this  reason,  your  father  has  thought  proper  to  pro- 
hibit the  traders  from  selling  you  any  rum.  Therefore, 
I  hope  my  brothers,  the  chiefs,  when  they  know  of  a 
trader  to  sell  an  Indian  rum,  Avill  prevent  that  Indian 
from  paying  his  credit.     This  will  break  up  the  perni- 


248  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

cioiis' practice,  and  oblige  your  father.  But  I  hope  you 
will  not  encourage  your  young  men  to  treat  our  traders 
ill  from  this  circumstance,  or  from  a  hope  of  the  indul- 
gence formerly  experienced ;  but  make  your  complaints 
to  persons  in  this  country,  who  "will  be  authorized  to  do 
you  justice. 

"Brothers — I  now  present  you  with  some  of  your 
father's  tobacco,  and  some  other  trifling  things,  as  a 
memorandum  of  my  good  will,  and  before  my  departure 
I  will  give  you  some  liquor  to  clear  your  throats." 

On  the  morning  after  the  council  it  was  discovered 
that  the  flag,  which  had  been  hoisted  from  his  boat,  was 
gone.  Calling  the  guard  he  had  one  whipped  for  his 
negligence. 

The  next  day,  before  he  was  out  of  his  bed.  Little 
Crow  came  bustling  up  from  his  village,  flag  in  hand, 
which  had  been  found  floating  down  the  river,  and  he 
supposed  that  the  whites  had  all  been  killed. 

On  Friday,  the  twent3'-sixth  of  September,  he  had 
transported  all  of  his  goods  to  a  post  above  the  Falls  of 
St.  Anthony,  and  then  occupied  a  few  leisure  hours  in 
writing  to  his  general,  and  to  his  wife,  who  he  thought 
might  not  see  him  return  from  the  land  of  savages. 

All  the  next  day  and  Sunday  the  soldiers  were  hard 
at  work  dragging  the  barge  over  the  portage,  and  when 
night  came  they  were  so  fatigued  that  they  could  not 
cook  their  suppers,  and  went  to  sleep.  On  Monday-  he 
encamped  on  what  is  now  known  as  Hennepin  Island. 

Opposite  the  mouth  of  Crow  river,  on  the  fourth  of 
October,  a  bark  canoe,  cut  to  pieces  with  tomahawks, 
and  paddles  broken,  was  seen,  which  appeared  as  if 
there  had  been  a  fight  between  Ojibways  and  Dahko- 
tahs.     The  next  day  he  passed  fortifications,  and  found 


BLOCK-HOUSE  NEAR  SWAN  RIVER.  249 

five  litters  in  which  wounded  had  been  carried,  at  a 
place,  where  five  years  before  there  had  been  fought  a 
severe  battle. 

On  the  sixteenth  of  October,  when  they  awoke  in  the 
morning,  they  were  astonished  to  find  that  snow  had 
fallen  during  the  night.  Pike  desired,  if  possible,  to 
reach  Crow  Wing,  the  highest  point  ever  made  by 
traders  in  their  bark  canoes,  that  day,  but  after  the 
soldiers  had  worked  four  hours  their  limbs  were  be- 
numbed by  the  cold. 

Going  ashore  they  built  a  fire,  and  found  the  boats 
were  leaking.  The  sergeant,  remarkable  for  strength, 
by  over  exertion  burst  a  blood-vessel,  and  a  corporal 
also  gave  evidence  of  internal  injuries. 

In  view  of  the  unforeseen  difficulties,  he  determined 
to  leave  the  large  boats,  and  a  portion  of  the  men.  By 
the  last  day  of  the  month  a  block-house  was  erected 
near  Swan  river,  and  in  his  journal'  he  writes  : — 

"  October  thirty-first,  Thursday. — Enclosed  my  little 
work  completely  with  pickets.  Hauled  up  m}-  two 
boats  and  turned  them  over  on  each  side  of  the  gate- 
ways ;  by  which  means  a  defence  was  made  to  the 
river,  and  had  it  not  been  for  various  political  reasons, 
I  would  have  laughed  at  the  attack  of  eight  hundred  or 
a  thousand  savages,  if  all  my  party  were  within.  For, 
except  accidents,  it  would  only  have  afforded  amuse- 
ment, the  Indians  having  no  idea  of  taking  a  place  by 
storm.      Found  myself  powerfully  attacked  with  the 

^  The  journal  and  letters  of  Pike  Since  his  day  Major  Long,  Fre- 
convcy  so  correct  an  idea  of  the  con-  mont,  Allen,  Pope,  Marcy,  Stans- 
dition  of  Minnesota,  at  the  com-  bury,  and  other  military  officers,  by 
mencement  of  this  century,  that  we  their  published  journals  have  made 
have  thought  it  advisable  to  give  known  the  region  west  of  the  Missis- 
many  extracts.  sippi. 


250  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

fantastics  of  the  brain,  called  ennui,  at  the  mention  of 
which  I  had  hitherto  scoffed;  but  my  books  being 
packed  up,  I  was  like  a  person  entranced,  and  could 
easily  conceive  why  so  many  persons  who  have  been 
confined  to  remote  places,  acquired  the  habit  of  drink- 
ing to  excess,  and  many  other  vicious  practices,  which 
have  been  adopted  merely  to  pass  time. 

"  November  twenty-ninth,  Friday. — A  Sioux  (the 
son  of  a  warrior  called  the  Killeur  Rouge,  of  the  Gens 
des  Feuilles)  and  a  Fols  Avoin  came  to  the  post.  He 
said  that  having  struck  our  trail  below,  and  finding 
some  to  be  shoe  tracks,  he  conceived  it  to  be  the  esta- 
blishment of  some  traders,  took  it,  and  came  to  the  post. 
He  informed  me  that  Mr.  Dickson  had  told  the  Sioux 
*that  they  might  now  hunt  where  they  pleased,  as  I 
had  gone  ahead  and  would  cause  the  Chippeways,  wher- 
ever I  met  them,  to  treat  them  with  friendshij:* ;  that  I 
had  barred  up  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Peter's,  so  that  no 
liquor  could  ascend  that  river ;  but  that,  if  they  came 
on  the  Mississippi,  they  should  have  what  liquor  they 
wanted ;  also,  that  I  was  on  the  river  and  had  a  great 
deal  of  merchandise  to  give  them  in  presents.'  This 
information  of  Mr.  Dickson  to  the  Indians,  seemed  to 
have  self-interest  and  envy  for  its  motives ;  for,  by  the 
idea  of  having  prevented  liquor  from  going  up  to  St. 
Peter's,  he  gave  the  Indians  to  understand  that  it  was 
a  regulation  of  my  own,  and  not  a  law  of  the  United 
States ;  and  by  assuring  them  he  would  sell  to  them  on 
the  Mississippi,  he  drew  all  the  Indians  from  the  traders 
on  the  St.  Peter's,  who  had  adhered  to  the  restriction  of 
not  selling  liquor,  and  should  any  of  them  be  killed,  the 
blame  would  all  lie  on  me,  as  he  had  (without  autho- 
rity) assured  them  they  might  hunt  in  security.    I  took 


DICKSON  VISITS  PIKE.  251 

care  to  give  the  young  chief  a  full  explanation  of  my 
ideas  on  the  above.  He  remained  all  night.  Killed 
two  deer. 

"  December  third,  Tuesday. — Mr.  Dickson,  with  one 
engagee  and  a  young  Indian,  arrived  at  the  fort.  I  re- 
ceived him  with  every  poHteness  in  my  power,  and  after 
a  serious  conversation  with  him  on  the  subject  of  the 
information  given  me  on  the  twenty-ninth  ultimo,  was 
induced  to  believe  it,  in  part,  incorrect.  He  assured  me 
that  no  liquor  was  sold  by  hun,  nor  by  any  houses  under 
his  direction.  He  gave  me  much  useful  information 
relative  to  my  fiiture  route,  which  gave  me  great  encour- 
agement as  to  the  certainty  of  my  accomplishing  the 
object  of  ni}-  voyage,  to  the  fullest  extent.  He  seemed 
to  be  a  gentleman  of  general  commercial  knowledge,  and 
possessing  much  geographical  information  of  the  Western 
country',  of  open,  frank,  manners.  He  gave  me  many 
assurances  of  his  good  wishes  for  the  prosperity  of  my 
undertaking. 

"  December  sixth,  Friday. — I  despatched  my  men 
down  to  bring  up  the  other  peroque  vriih  a  strong  sled, 
on  which  it  was  intended  to  put  the  canoe  about  one- 
third,  and  to  let  the  end  drag  on  the  ice.  Three  families 
of  the  Fols  Avoins  arrived  and  encamped  near  the  fort : 
also,  one  Sioux,  who  pretended  to  have  been  sent  to 
me,  from  the  Gens  des  Feuilles,  to  inform  me  that  the 
Yanctongs  and  Sussitongs  (two  bands  of  Sioux  from  the 
head  of  the  St.  Peter's  and  the  Missouri,  and  the  most 
savage  of  them)  had  commenced  the  war  dance,  and 
would  depart  in  a  few  days,  in  which  case  he  conceived 
it  would  be  ad\'isable  for  the  Fols  Avoins  to  keep  close 
under  my  protection ;  that  making  a  stroke  on  the 
Chippeways  would  tend  to  injure  the  grand  object  of 


252  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

my  voyage,  &c.,  &c.  Some  reasons  induced  me  to  be- 
lieve he  was  a  self-created  envoy;  however,  I  offered  to 
pay  him,  or  any  other  young  Sioux,  who  would  go  to 
those  bands  and  carry  my  word.  He  promised  to  make 
known  my  wishes  upon  his  return.  My  men  returned 
in  the  evening  without  my  canoe,  having  been  so  unfor- 
tunate as  to  split  her  in  carrying  her  over  the  rough 
hilly  ice  in  the  ripples  below.  So  many  disappoint- 
ments almost  wearied  out  my  patience ;  but,  notwith- 
standing, I  intend  to  embark  by  land  and  water  in  a 
few  days. 

"December  ninth,  Monday. — Prepaj^ed  to  embark. 
Expecting  the  Sioux,  I  had  two  large  kettles  of  soup  made 
for  them.  Had  a  shooting-match  with  four  prizes.  The 
Sioux  did  not  arrive,  and  we  eat  the  soup  ourselves. 
Crossed  the  river  and  encamped  above  the  rapids.  Wind 
changed,  and  it  grew  cold. 

"  December  tenth,  Tuesday. — After  arranging  our 
sleds  ^  and  peroque  commenced  our  march.  The  sleds  on 
the  prairie,  and  the  peroque  towed  by  three  men.  Found 
it  extremel}'  difficult  to  get  along,  the  snow  being  melted 
off  the  prairie  in  spots.  The  men  who  had  the  canoe 
were  obliged  to  wade  and  drag  her  over  the  rocks  in 
many  places.  Shot  the  only  deer  I  saw.  It  fell  three 
times,  and  after  made  its  escape.  This  was  a  great 
disappointment,  for  ujDon  the  game  we  took  now  we 
depended  for  our  subsistence.  This  evening  disclosed 
to  my  men  the  real  danger  they  had  to  encounter.  Dis- 
tance five  miles. 

"  December  fourteenth,  Saturday. — We  departed  from 

^  Sleds  were  such  as  are  frequently     -weight,   in   which    two    men   were 
seen  about  farmers'  yards,  calculated     geared  abreast, 
to  hold  two  barrels,  or  four  hundred 


SLED  FALLS  INTO  THE  RIVER.— BAGGAGE  WET.     253 

our  encampment  at  the  usual  hour,  but  had  not  ad- 
vanced one  mile  when  the  foremost  sled,  Avhich  hap- 
pened unfortunately  to  carry  my  baggage  and  ammuni- 
tion, fell  into  the  river.  We  were  all  in  the  river  up 
to  our  middles  in  recovering  the  things.  Halted  and 
made  a  fire.  Came  on  to  where  the  river  was  frozen 
over.  Stopped  and  encamped  on  the  west  shore  in  a 
pine  wood.  Upon  examining  my  things,  found  all  my 
baggage  wet,  and  some  of  my  books  materially  injured; 
but  a  still  greater  injury  was  that  all  of  my  cartridges, 
and  four  pounds  of  double  battle  Sussex  powder  for  my 
own  use,  was  destroyed.  Fortunately  my  kegs  of  pow- 
der were  preserved  dry,  and  some  bottles  of  common 
glazed  powder,  which  were  so  tightly  corked  as  not  to 
admit  water.  Had  this  not  been  the  case,  my  voyage 
must  necessarily  have  been  terminated,  for  we  could  not 
have  subsisted  without  ammunition.  During  the  time 
of  our  misfortune,  two  Fols  Avoin  Indians  came  to  us, 
one  of  whom  was  at  my  stockade,  on  the  twenty-ninth 
ultimo,  in  company  with  the  Sioux.  I  signified  to  them 
by  signs  the  place  of  our  intended  encampment,  and 
invited  them  to  come  and  encamjD  with  us.  They  left 
me,  and  both  arrived  at  my  camp  in  the  evening,  hav- 
ing each  a  deer  which  they  presented  me.  I  gave  them 
my  canoe  to  keep  until  spring;  and,  in  the  morning,  at 
parting,  made  them  a  small  present.  Sat  up  until  three 
o'clock,  A.M.,  dr}dng  and  assorting  my  ammunition  and 
baggage.     Killed  two  deer.     Distance  four  miles. 

'•'  December  twenty-first,  Saturday. — Bradley  and  my- 
self went  on  ahead  and  overtook  my  interpreter,  who 
had  left  camp  very  early  in  hopes  that  he  would  be 
able  to  see  the  river  De  Corbeau,  where  he  had  twice 
wintered.     He  was   immediately  opposite   to   a   large 


254  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

island,  which  he  sujDposed  to  have  great  resemblance  to 
an  island  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  above  river;  but 
finally  he  concluded  it  was  not  the  island,  and  returned 
to  camp.  But  this  was  actually  the  river,  as  we  disco- 
vered when  we  got  to  the  head  of  the  island  from  which 
we  could  see  the  river's  entrance.  This  fact  exposes  the 
ignorance  and  inattention  of  the  French  and  traders; 
and,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  intelligent  men,  what 
little  confidence  is  to  be  placed  on  their  information. 
We  ascended  the  Mississippi  about  five  miles  above  the 
confluence ;  found  it  frozen ;  but  in  many  places,  not 
more  than  one  hundred  yards  over;  mild  and  still. 
Indeed  all  the  appearance  of  a  small  river  of  a  low 
country.  Keturned  and  found  my  party,  having  broke 
sleds,  had  only  made  good  three  miles,  while  I  had 
marched  thirty-five. 

"  December  thirty-first,  Tuesday. — Passed  Pine  river 
about  eleven  o'clock.  At  its  mouth  there  was  a  Chip- 
peway's  encampment  of  fifteen  lodges;  this  had  been 
occupied  in  the  summer,  but  is  now  vacant.  By  the 
significations  of  their  marks  we  understood  that  they 
had  marched  a  party  of  fifty  warriors  against  the  Sioux ; 
and  had  killed  four  men  and  four  women,  which  were 
represented  by  images  carved  out  of  pine  or  cedar.  The 
four  men  painted  and  put  in  the  ground  to  the  middle, 
leaving  above  ground  those  parts  which  are  generally 
concealed;  by  their  sides  were  four  painted  poles, 
sharpened  at  the  end  to  represent  the  women.  Near 
this  were  poles  with  deer  skins,  plumes,  and  silk  hand- 
kerchiefs. Also  a  circular  hoop  of  cedar  with  something 
attached  representing  a  scalp.  Near  each  lodge  they 
had  holes  dug  in  the  ground,  and  boughs  ready  to  cover 


■    INDIGNATION  AT  SIGHT  OF  BRITISH  FLAG.  255 

them,  as  a  retreat  for  their  Avomen  and  children  if 
attacked  by  the  Sioux. 

"January  second,  1806,  Thursday. — Fine  ^Yarnl  day. 
Discovered  fresh  sign  of  Indians.  Just  as  we  Avere  en- 
camping at  night,  ni}^  sentinel  informed  us  that  some 
Indians  were  coming  full  speed  upon  our  trail  or  track.  I 
ordered  my  men  to  stand  by  their  guns  carefully.  They 
were  immediately  at  my  camp,  and  saluted  the  flag  by  a 
discharge  of  three  pieces ;  when  four  Chippeways,  one 
Englishman  and  a  Frenchman  of  the  North-west  Com- 
pany presented  themselves.  They  informed  us  that 
some  women  having  discovered  our  trail  gave  the  alarm, 
and  not  knowing  but  it  was  their  enemies,  they  had 
departed  to  make  a  discovery.  They  had  heard  of  us 
and  revered  our  flag.  Mr.  Grant,  the  Englishman,  had 
only  arrived  the  day  before  from  Lake  De  Sable ;  from 
which  he  marched  in  one  day  and  a  half  I  presented 
the  Indians  -with  half  a  deer,  which  they  received  thank- 
fully, for  they  had  discovered  our  fires  some  days  ago, 
and,  believing  it  to  be  the  Sioux,  they  dared  not  leave 
their  camp.  They  returned,  but  Mr.  Grant  remained 
all  night. 

"January  third,  Friday. — My  party  marched  earty, 
but  I  returned  with  Mr.  Grant  to  his  establishment  on 
the  Red  Cedar  Lake,  having  one  corporal  with  me.  When 
we  came  in  sight  of  his  house,  I  observed  the  flag  of 
Great  Britain  flying.  I  fdt  indignant,  and  cannot  say 
what  my  feelings  looidd  have  excited  me  to,  had  he  not 
informed  me  that  it  heJonged  to  the  Indians.  This  was 
not  much  more  agreeable  to  me. 

"  January  fourth,  Saturday. — "We  made  twenty-eight 
points  in  the  river;  broad,  good  bottom,  and  of  the 
usual  timber.     In  the  night  I  was  awakened  by  the  cry 


256  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

of  the  sentinel,  calling  repeatedly  to  the  men  ;  at  length 
he  vociferated,  "  will  you  let  the  lieutenant  be  burnt  to 
death  ?"  This  immediately  aroused  me ;  at  first  I  seized 
ray  arms,  but,  looking  round,  I  saAv  my  tents  in  flames. 
The  men  flew  to  my  assistance  and  we  tore  them  down, 
but  not  until  they  were  entirely  ruined.  This,  with 
the  loss  of  my  leggins,  moccasins,  and  socks,  which  I 
had  hung  up  to  dry,  was  no  trivial  misfortune,  in  such 
a  country,  and  on  such  a  voyage.  But  I  had  reason  to 
thank  God  that  the  powder,  three  small  casks  of  which 
I  had  in  my  tent,  did  not  take  fire ;  if  it  had,  I  must 
certainly  have  lost  all  my  baggage,  if  not  my  life. 

January  eighth,  Wednesday. — Conceiving  I  was  at 
no  great  distance  from  Sandy  Lake,  I  left  my  sleds,  and 
with  Corporal  Bradley,  took  my  departure  for  that 
place,  intending  to  send  him  back  the  same  evening. 
We  walked  on  very  briskly  until  near  night,  when  we 
met  a  young  Indian,  one  .  of  those  who  had  visited  my 
camp  near  Red  Cedar  Lake.  I  endeavoured  to  explain 
to  him,  that  it  was  my  wish  to  go  to  Lake  De  Sable 
that  evening.  He  returned  with  me  until  we  came  to 
a  trail  that  led  across  the  woods ;  this  he  signified  was  a 
near  course.  I  went  this  course  with  him,  and  shortly 
after  found  myself  at  a  Chippeway  encampment,  to 
which  I  believe  the  friendly  savage  had  enticed  me  with 
an  expectation  that  I  would  tarry  all  night,  knowing 
that  it  was  too  late  for  us  to  make  the  lake  in  good 
season.  But,  upon  our  refusing  to  stay,  he  put  us  in 
the  right  road.  We  arrived  at  the  place  where  the 
track  left  the  Mississippi  at  dusk,  when  we  traversed 
about  two  leagues  of  a  wilderness,  without  any  very 
great  difficulty,  and  at  length  struck  the  shore  of  Lake 
De  Sable,  over  a  branch  of  which  our  course  lay.     The 


SANDY  LAKE  POST.— HORSES  FROM  RED  RIVER.  257 

snow  having  covered  the  trail  made  by  the  Frenchmen, 
who  had  passed  before  with  the  rackets,  I  was  fearful 
of  losing  ourselves  on  the  lake ;  the  consequence  of 
which  can  only  be  conceived  by  those  who  have  been 
exposed  on  a  lake  or  naked  plain,  a  dreary  night  of 
January,  in  latitude  47°  and  the  thermometer  below  0. 
Thinking  that  we  could  observe  the  bank  of  the  other 
shore,  we  kept  a  straight  course,  and  some  time  after 
discovered  Hghts,  and  on  our  arrival  were  not  a  little 
surprised  to  find  a  large  stockade.  The  gate  being 
opened,  we  entered  and  proceeded  to  the  quarters  of 
Mr.  Grant,  where  we  were  treated  with  the  utmost 
hospitality. 

"January  ninth,  Thursday. — Marched  the  corporal 
early,  in  order  that  our  men  should  receive  assurance 
of  our  safety  and  success.  He  carried  with  him  a  small 
keg  of  spirits,  a  present  from  Mr.  Grant.  The  estab- 
lishment of  this  place  was  formed  twelve  years  since, 
by  the  North-west  Company,  and  was  formerly  under 
the  charge  of  a  Mr.  Charles  Brusky.  It  has  attained 
at  present  such  regularity,  as  to  permit  the  superintend- 
ent to  live  tolerably  comfortable.  They  have  horses 
they  procured  from  Red  River,  of  the  Indians  j  raise 
plenty  of  Irish  potatoes,  catch  pike,  suckers,  pickerel, 
and  white  fish  in  abundance.  They  have  also  beaver, 
deer,  and  moose ;  but  the  provision  they  chiefly  depend 
upon  is  Avild  oats,  of  which  they  jDurchase  great  quanti- 
ties from  the  savages,  giving  at  the  rate  of  about  one 
dollar  and  a  half  per  bushel.  But  flour,  pork,  and  salt, 
arc  almost  interdicted  to  persons  not  principals  in  the 
trade.  Flour  sells  at  half  a  dollar;  salt  a  dollar;  pork 
eighty  cents ;  sugar  half  a  dollar ;  and  tea  four  dollars 

17 


258  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

fifty  cents  per  pound.  The  sugar  is  obtained  from  the 
Indians,  and  is  made  from  the  maple  tree, 

"January  nineteenth,  Sunday. — Two  men  of  the 
North-west  Company  arrived  from  the  Fond  du  Lac 
Superior  with  letters;  one  of  which  was  from  their 
estabUshment,  in  Athapuscow,  and  had  been  since  last 
May  on  the  route.  While  at  this  post  I  eat  roasted 
beavers,  dressed  in  every  respect  as  a  pig  is  usually 
dressed  with  us ;  it  was  excellent.  I  could  not  discern 
the  least  taste  of  Des  Bois.  I  also  eat  boiled  moose's 
head,  which  when  well  boiled,  I  consider  equal  to  the 
tail  of  the  beaver;  in  taste  and  substance  they  are 
much  alike. 

"January  twentieth,  Monday. — The  men  with  the 
sleds  took  their  departure  about  two  o'clock.  Shortly 
after  I  followed  them.  We  encamped  at  the  portage 
between  the  Mississippi  and  Leech  Lake  river.  Snow 
fell  in  the  night. 

"January  twenty-fifth,  Saturday. — Travelled  almost 
all  day  through  the  lands,  and  found  them  much  better 
than  usual.  Boley  lost  the  Sioux  pipe  stem,  which  I 
carried  along  for  the  purpose  of  making  peace  with  the 
Chippeways ;  I  sent  him  back  for  it ;  he  did  not  return 
until  eleven  o'clock  at  night.  It  was  very  warm,  thaw- 
ing all  day.     Distance  forty-four  points. 

"January  twenty-sixth,  Sunday. — I  left  my  party  in 
order  to  proceed  to  a  house  (or  lodge)  of  Mr.  Grant's,  on 
the  Mississippi,  where  he  was  to  tarry  until  I  overtook 
him.  Took  with  me  my  Indian,  Boley,  and  some  trifling 
provisions;  the  Indian  and  myself  marched  so  fast,  that 
we  left  Boley  on  the  route,  about  eight  miles  from  the 
lodge.  Met  Mr.  Grant's  men  on  their  return  to  Lake 
De  Sable,  having  evacuated  the  house  this  morning,  and 


BRITISH  FLAG  SHOT  AT,  AND  BROUGHT  DOWN.  259 

Mr.  Grant  having  marched  for  Leech  Lake.  The  Lidiau 
and  I  arrived  before  sundown.  Passed  the  night  very 
uncomfortably,  having  nothing  to  eat,  not  much  wood, 
nor  any  blankets.  The  Indian  slept  sound.  I  cursed 
his  insensibihty,  being  obliged  to  content  myself  over  a 
few  coals  all  night.  Boley  did  not  arrive.  Li  the  night 
the  Indian  mentioned  something  about  his  son. 

"February  first,  Saturday. — Left  our  camp  pretty 
earl}^  Passed  a  continued  train  of  prairie,  and  arrived 
at  Lake  La  Sang  Sue,^  at  half-past  two  o'clock.  I  will 
not  attempt  to  describe  my  feelings,  on  the  accomplish- 
ment of  my  voyage,  for  this  is  the  main  source  of  the 
Mississippi.  The  Lake  Winipie  branch  is  navigable 
from  thence  to  Bed  Cedar  Lake,  for  the  distance  of  five 
leagues,  which  is  the  extremity  of  the  navigation. 
Crossed  the  lake  twelve  miles  to  the  establishment  of 
the  North-west  Company,  where  we  arrived  about  three 
o'clock ;  found  all  the  gates  locked,  but  upon  knocking 
were  admitted,  and  received  with  marked  attention  and 
hospitality  by  Mr.  Hugh  McGillis.  Had  a  good  dish  of 
coffee,  biscuit,  butter,  and  cheese  for  supper. 

"  February  second,  Sunday. — Remained  all  day  within 
doors.  In  the  evening  sent  an  invitation  to  Mr.  Ander- 
son, Avho  was  an  agent  of  Dickson,  and  also  for  some 
young  Indians  at  his  house,  to  come  over  and  breakfast 
in  the  morning, 

"  February  seventh,  Friday. — Remained  within  doors, 
my  limbs  being  still  very  much  swelled.  Addressed  a 
letter  to  Mr.  McGillis  on  the  subject  of  the  North-west 
Company  trade  in  this  quarter. 

"  Feljruary  tenth,  Monday. — Hoisted  the  American 
flag  in  the  fort.     The  English  yacht  still  flying  at  the 

*  Leech  Lake. 


2G0  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

top  of  the  flagstaff,  I  directed  the  Indians  and  my  rifle- 
men to  shoot  at  it,  who  soon  broke  the  iron  pin  to  which 
it  was  fastened,  and  brought  it  to  the  ground.  Reading 
Shenstone. 

"  February  sixteenth,  Sunday. — Held  a  council  with 
the  chiefs  and  warriors  at  this  place^  and  of  Red  Lake ; 
but  it  required  much  patience,  coolness,  and  manage- 
ment to  obtain  the  objects  I  desired,  viz.  That  they 
should  make  peace  with  the  Sioux;  deUver  up  their 
medals  and  flags ;  and  that  some  of  their  chiefs  should 
follow  me  to  St.  Louis.  As  a  proof  of  their  agreeing 
to  the  peace,  I  directed  that  they  should  smoke  out  of 
the  Wabasha's  pij^e  which  lay  on  the  table ;  they  all 
smoked,  from  the  head  chief  to  the  youngest  soldier ; 
they  generally  delivered  up  their  flags  with  a  good 
grace ;  except  the  Flat  Mouth,  who  said  he  had  left  both 
at  his  camp,  three  days'  march,  and  promised  to  deliver 
them  up  to  Mr.  McGillis,  to  be  forwarded.  With  respect 
to  their  returning  with  me,  the  old  Sweet  thought  it 
most  proper  to  return  to  the  Lidians  of  the  Red  Lake, 
Red  River,  and  Rainy  Lake  River.  The  Flat  Mouth 
said  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  restrain  his  young  war- 
riors. The  other  chiefs  did  not  think  themselves  of 
consequence  sufficient  to  offer  any  reason  for  not  fol- 
lowing me  to  St.  Louis,  a  journey  of  between  two  and 
three  thousand  miles  through  hostile  tribes  of  Indians. 
I  then  told  them,  'that  I  was  sorry  to  find  that  the 
hearts  of  the  Sauteurs  of  this  quarter  were  so  weak, 
that  the  other  nations  would  say :  what,  are  there  no 
soldiers  at  Leech,  Red,  and  Rainy  Lakes,  who  had  the 
hearts  to  carry  the  calumet  of  their  chief  to  their 
father?'     This  had  the  desired  effect.     The  Bucks  and 

^  Leech  Lake. 


RED  LAKE.— McGILLIS,  TRADER.  261 

Beaux,  two  of  the  most  celebrated  young  warriors,  rose 
and  offered  themselves  to  me  for  the  embassy;  they 
were  accepted,  adopted  as  my  children,  and  I  installed 
their  father.  Their  example  animated  the  others,  and 
it  would  have  been  no  difficult  matter  to  have  taken  a 
company;  two,  however,  were  sufficient.  I  determined 
that  it  should  be  my  care,  never  to  make  them  regret 
the  noble  confidence  placed  in  me ;  for  I  would  have 
protected  their  hves  with  my  own.  The  Beaux  is 
brother  to  the  Flat  Mouth.  Gave  my  new  soldiers  a 
dance,  and  a  small  dram.  They  attempted  to  get  more 
liquor,  but  a  firm  and  peremptory  denial  convinced  them 
I  was  not  to  be  trifled  with. 

"February  eighteenth,  Tuesday. — We  marched  for 
Red  Cedar  Lake  about  11  o'clock,  with  a  guide  provided 
for  me  by  Mr.  McGillis ;  were  all  provided  with  snow 
shoes ;  marched  off  amidst  the  acclamations  and  shouts 
of  the  Indians,  who  generally  had  remained  to  see  us 
take  our  departure.  Mr.  Anderson  promised  to  come 
on  with  letters;  he  arrived  about  twelve  o'clock,  and 
remained  all  night.  He  concluded  to  go  down  with  me 
to  see  Mr.  Dickson. 

"  February  twenty-fifth,  Tuesday. — We  marched,  and 
arrived  at  Cedar  Lake  before  noon;  found  Mr.  Grant 
and  De  Breche  (chief  of  Sandy  Lake)  at  the  house. 
This  gave  me  much  pleasure,  for  I  conceive  Mr.  Grant 
to  be  a  gentleman  of  as  much  candour  as  any  with 
whom  1  had  made  an  acquaintance  in  this  quarter;  and 
the  chief  (De  Breche)  is  reputed  to  be  a  man  of  better 
information  than  any  of  the  Sauteurs. 

"March  third,  Monday. — Marched  early;  passed  our 
Christmas  encampment  at  sunrise.  I  was  ahead  of  my 
party  in  my  cariole.  Soon  afterwards,  I  observed  smoke 


262  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

on  the  west  shore.  I  hallooed,  and  some  Indians  ap- 
peared upon  the  hank.  I  waited  until  my  interpreter 
came  up ;  we  then  went  to  the  camp.  They  proved  to 
he  a  party  of  Chippeways,  who  had  left  the  encamp- 
ment the  same  day  we  left  it.  They  presented  me  with 
some  roast  meat,  which  I  gave  my  sleigh  dogs.  They 
then  left  their  camp  and  accompanied  us  down  the 
river.  "We  passed  our  encampment  of  the  twenty- 
fourth  December,  at  nine  o'clock;  of  the  twenty-third, 
at  ten  o'clock,  and  of  the  twenty-second,  at  eleven 
o'clock ;  here  the  Indians  crossed  on  to  the  west  shore ; 
arrived  at  the  encampment  of  the  twenty-first  Decem- 
ber, at  twelve  o'clock,  where  we  had  a  barrel  of  flour. 
I  here  found  Corporal  Meek,  and  another  man  from  the 
post,  from  whom  I  heard  that  the  men  were  all  well. 
They  confirmed  the  account  of  a  Sioux  having  fired  on 
a  sentinel,  and  added,  that  the  sentinel  had  first  made 
him  drunk,  and  then  turned  him  out  of  the  tent,  upon 
which  he  fired  on  the  sentinel  and  ran  off,  but  promised 
to  deliver  himself  up  in  the  spring.  The  corporal  in- 
formed me  that  the  sergeant  had  used  all  the  elegant 
hams  and  saddles  of  venison  which  I  had  preserved  to 
present  to  the  commander-in-chief,  and  other  friends ; 
that  he  had  made  away  with  all  the  whiskey,  includ- 
ing a  keg  I  had  for  my  own  use,  having  pubhcly  sold  it 
to  the  men,  and  a  barrel  of  pork;  that  he  had  broken 
open  my  trunk  and  sold  some  things  out  of  it,  traded 
with  the  Indians,  gave  them  liquor,  and  this,  too,  con- 
trary to  my  most  pointed  and  particular  directions. 
Thus,  after  I  had  used,  in  going  up  the  river"  with  my 
party,  the  strictest  economy,  living  upon  two  pounds  of 
frozen  venison  a  day,  in  order  that  we  might  have  pro- 
vision to  carry  us  down  in  the  spring,  this  fellow  was 


MEAN  CONDUCT  OF  PIKE'S  SERGEANT.  263 

squandering  away  the  flour,  pork,  and  liquor  during  the 
winter,  and  while  we  were  starving  with  hunger  and 
cold.  I  had  saved  all  our  corn,  bacon,  and  the  meat  of 
six  deer,  and  left  it  at  Sandy  Lake  with  some  tents,  my 
mess  boxes,  salt,  and  tobacco,  all  of  which  we  were 
obliged  to  sacrifice  by  not  returning  the  same  route  we 
went,  and  we  consoled  ourselves  at  this  loss  by  the  flat- 
tering idea  that  we  should  find  at  our  little  post  a  hand- 
some stock  preserved;  how  mortifying  the  disappoint- 
ment !  We  raised  our  barrel  of  flour  and  came  down  to 
the  mouth  of  a  little  river  on  the  east  which  we  had 
passed  on  the  twenty-first  December.  The  ice  covered 
with  water. 

"  March  fifth,  Wednesday. — Passed  all  the  encamp- 
ments between  Pine  Creek  and  the  post,  at  which  we 
arrived  about  ten  o'clock.  I  sent  a  man  on  ahead  to 
prevent  the  salute  I  had  before  ordered  by  letter ;  this 
I  did  from  the  idea  that  the  Sioux  chiefs  would  accom- 
]3any  me.  Found  all  well.  Confined  my  sergeant. 
About  one  o'clock,  Mr.  Dickson  arrived  with  the  Kil- 
leur  Rouge,  his  son,  and  two  other  Sioux  men,  with 
two  women,  who  had  come  up  to  be  introduced  to  the 
Sauteurs  they  expected  to  find  with  me.  Received  a 
letter  from  Reinville. 

"  March  fifteenth,  Saturday. — This  was  the  day  fixed 
upon  by  Mr.  Grant  and  the  Chippeway  warriors  for  their 
arrival  at  my  fort ;  and  I  was  all  day  anxiously  expect- 
ing them,  for  I  knew  that  should  they  not  accompany 
me  down,  the  peace  partially  efiected  between  them  and 
the  Sioux  would  not  be  on  a  permanent  footing ;  and 
upon  this  I  take  them  to  be  neither  so  brave  nor  gener- 
ous as  the  Sioux,  who,  in  all  their  transactions,  appear 
to  be  candid  and  l^rave,  whereas,  the  Chippewiiys  are 


261  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

suspicious,  consequently  treacherous,  and,  of  course, 
cowards. 

"  March  seventeenth,  Monday. — Left  the  fort  with 
my  interpreter  and  Roy,  in  order  to  visit  Thomas,  the 
Fols  Avoin  chief,  who  was  encamped,  with  six  lodges 
of  his  nation,  about  twenty  miles  beloAv  us,  on  a  little 
river  which  empties  into  the  Mississippi,  on  the  west 
side,  a  little  above  Clear  river.  On  our  way  down, 
killed  one  goose,  wounded  another,  and  a  deer  that  the 
dogs  had  driven  into  an  air  hole ;  hung  our  game  on 
the  trees.  Arrived  at  the  creek,  took  out  on  it ;  as- 
cended three  or  four  miles  on  one  bank,  and  descended 
on  the  other.  Killed  another  goose.  Struck  the  Mis- 
sissippi below .     Encamped  at  our  encampment 

of  the of  October,  when  we  ascended  the  river. 

Ate  our  goose  for  supper.  It  snowed  all  day,  and  at 
night  a  very  severe  storm  arose.  It  may  be  imagined 
that  we  spent  a  very  disagreeable  night,  without  shelter, 
and  but  one  blanket  each. 

"  March  eighteenth,  Tuesday. — We  marched,  deter- 
mined to  find  the  lodges.  Met  an  Indian,  whose  track 
we  pursued,  through  almost  impenetrable  woods,  for 
about  two  and  a  half  miles,  to  the  camps.  Here  there 
was  one  of  the  finest  sugar  camps  I  almost  ever  saw, 
the  whole  of  the  timber  being  sugar  tree.  We  were 
conducted  to  the  chief's  lodge,  who  received  us  in  the 
patriarchal  style.  He  pulled  off"  my  leggins  and  mocca- 
sins, put  me  in  the  best  place  in  his  lodge,  and  offered 
me  dry  clothes.  He  then  presented  us  with  syrup  of 
the  maple  to  drink,  then  asked  whether  I  preferred 
eating  beaver,  swan,  elk,  or  deer ;  upon  my  giving  the 
preference  to  the  first,  a  large  kettle  was  filled  by  his 
wife,  of  which  soup  was  made ;  this  being  thickened  with 


NO  CHASTITY  AMONG  SAVAGES.  265 

flour,  we  had  what  I  then  thought  a  dehcious  repast. 
After  we  had  refreshed  ourselves,  he  asked  whether  we 
would  visit  his  people  at  the  other  lodges,  which  we  did ; 
and  m  each  were  presented  with  something  to  eat ;  by 
some  with  a  bowl  of  sugar,  by  others,  with  a  beaver's 
tail.  After  making  this  tour,  we  returned  to  the  chief's 
lodge,  and  found  a  berth  provided  for  each  of  us,  of 
good  soft  bear  skins,  nicely  spread,  and  on  mine  there 
was  a  large  feather  pillow.  I  must  not  here  omit  to 
mention  an  anecdote  which  serves  to  characterize  more 
particularly  their  manners.  This,  in  the  eyes  of  the 
contracted  moralist,  would  deform  my  hospitable  host 
into  a  monster  of  libertinism ;  but,  by  a  liberal  mind, 
would  be  considered  as  arismg  from  the  hearty  genero- 
sity of  the  wild  savage.  In  the  course  of  the  day,  ob- 
serving a  ring  on  one  of  my  fingers,  he  inquired  if  it 
was  gold ;  he  was  told  it  was  the  gift  of  one  with  whom 
I  should  be  happy  to  be  at  that  time.  He  seemed  to 
think  seriously,  and  at  night  told  my  interpreter,  '  that 
perhaps  his  father  (as  they  all  called  me)  felt  much 
grieved  for  the  want  of  a  woman ;  if  so,  he  could  furnish 
him  with  one.'  He  was  answered,  that  with  us,  each 
man  had  Ijut  one  wife,  and  that  I  considered  it  strictly 
my  duty  to  remain  faithful  to  her.  This  he  thought 
strange  (he  himself  having  three),  and  replied  that  'he 
knew  some  Americans  at  his  nation  who  had  half  a 
dozen  wives  during  the  winter.'  The  interpreter  o]> 
served  that  they  were  men  without  character,  but  that 
all  our  great  men  had  each  but  one  wife.  The  chief 
acquiesced,  but  said  he  liked  better  to  have  as  many  as 
he  pleased.  This  conversation  passing  without  any 
appeal  to  me,  as  the  interpreter  knew  my  mind  on 
those  occasions,  and  answered  immediately,  it  did  not 


266  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

appear  as  an  immediate  refusal  of  the  woman.     Con- 
tinued snowing  very  hard  all  day.     Slept  very  warm. 

"  April  eleventh,  Friday. — Although  it  snowed  very 
hard,  we  brought  over  both  boats,  and  descended  the 
river  to  the  island  at  the  entrance  of  the  St.  Peter's.  I 
sent  to  the  chiefs  and  informed  them  I  had  something  to 
communicate  to  them.  The  Fils  de  Pinchow  immediately 
waited  on  me,  and  informed  me  that  he  would  provide 
a  place  for  the  purpose.  About  sundown  I  was  sent  for 
and  introduced  into  the  council-house,  where  I  found  a 
great  many  chiefs  of  the  Sussitongs,  Gens  des  Feuilles, 
and  the  Gens  du  Lac.  The  Yanctongs  had  not  yet  come 
down.  They  were  all  waiting  for  my  arrival.  There 
were  about  one  hundred  lodges,  or  six  hundred  people;  we 
were  saluted  on  our  crossing  the  river  with  ball  as  usual. 
The  council-house  was  two  large  lodges,  capable  of  con- 
taining three  hundred  men.  In  the  upper  were  forty 
chiefs,  and  as  many  pipes  set  against  the  poles,  along  side 
of  which  I  had  the  Sauteurs'  pipes  arranged.  I  then 
informed  them  in  short  detail,  of  my  transactions  with 
the  Sauteurs ;  but  my  interpreters  were  not  capable  of 
making  themselves  understood.  I  was  therefore  obliged 
to  omit  mentioning  every  particular  relative  to  the  rascal 
who  fired  on  my  sentinel,  and  of  the  scoundrel  who  broke 
the  Fols  Avoins'  canoes,  and  threatened  my  life;  the 
interpreters  however  informed  them  that  I  wanted  some 
of  their  principal  chiefs  to  go  to  St.  Louis;  and  that 
those  who  thought  proper  might  descend  to  the  prairie, 
where  we  would  give  them  more  explicit  information. 
They  all  smoked  out  of  the  Sauteurs'  pipes,  excepting 
three,  who  were  painted  black,  and  were  some  of  those 
who  lost  their  relations  last  winter.     I  invited  the  Fils 


FRUITLESS  SEARCH  FOR  CARVER'S  CAVE.  267 

de  Pinchow/  and  the  son  of  the  Killeur  Rouge,  to  come 
over  and  sup  with  me ;  when  Mr.  Dickson  and  myself 
endeavoured  to  explain  what  I  intended  to  have  said  to 
them,  could  I  have  made  myself  understood;  that  at 
the  prairie  we  would  have  all  things  explained ;  that  I 
was  desirous  of  making  a  better  report  of  them  than 
Captain  Lewis  could  do  from  their  treatment  of  him. 
The  former  of  those  savages  was  the  person  who  remained 
around  my  post  all  last  whiter,  and  treated  my  men  so 
well ;  they  endeavoured  to  excuse  their  people. 

''  April  twelfth,  Saturday. — Embarked  early.  Al- 
though my  interpreter  had  been  frequently  up  the 
river,  he  could  not  tell  me  where  the  cave  (spoken  of 
by  Car^^er)  could  be  found ;  we  carefully  sought  for  it, 
but  in  vain.  At  the  Indian  village,  a  few  miles  below 
St.  Peter's,  we  were  about  to  pass  a  few  lodges,  but  on 
receiving  a  very  particular  invitation  to  come  on  shore, 
we  landed,  and  were  received  in  a  lodge  kindly ;  they 
presented  us  sugar.  I  gave  the  proprietor  a  dram, 
and  was  about  to  depart  when  he  demanded  a  kettle  of 
liquor ;  on  being  refused,  and  after  I  had  left  the  shore, 
he  told  me,  that  he  did  not  hke  the  arrangements,  and 
that  he  would  go  to  war  this  summer.  I  directed  the 
interpreter  to  tell  him,  that  if  I  returned  to  the  St. 
Peter's  with  the  troops,  I  would  settle  that  aJBfair  with 
him.  On  our  arrival  at  the  St.  Croix,  I  found  the  Petit 
Corbcau  with  his  people,  and  Messrs.  Frazer  and  Wood. 
We  had  a  conference,  when  the  Petit  Corbeau  made 
many  apologies  for  the  misconduct  of  his  people;  he 
represented  to  us  the  different  manners  in  which  the 
young  warriors  had  been  inducing  him  to  go  to  war ; 

*  Probably  the  son  of  the  French  trader  Penneshaw. 


268  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

that  he  had  been  much  bhamed  for  dismissing  his  party 
last  fall ;  but  that  he  was  determined  to  adhere  as  far 
as  lay  in  his  power  to  our  instructions ;  that  he  thought 
it  most  prudent  to  remain  here  and  restrain  the  warriors. 
He  then  presented  me  with  a  beaver  robe  and  pipe,  and 
his  message  to  the  general.  That  he  was  determined  to 
preserve  peace,  and  make  the  road  clear ;  also  a  remem- 
brance of  his  promised  medal.  I  made  a  reply,  calculated 
to  confirm  him  in  his  good  intentions,  and  assured  him 
that  he  should  not  be  the  less  remembered  by  his  father, 
although  not  present.  I  was  informed  that,  notwith- 
standing the  instruction  of  his  license,  and  my  particular 
request,  Murdoch  Cameron  had  taken  liquor  and  sold 
it  to  the  Indians  on  the  river  St.  Peter's,  and  that  his 
partner  below  had  been  equally  imprudent.  I  pledged 
myself  to  prosecute  them  according  to  law;  for  they 
have  been  the  occasion  of  great  confusion,  and  of  much 
injury  to  the  other  traders.  This  day  met  a  canoe  of 
Mr.  Dickson's  loaded  with  provisions,  under  the  charge 
of  Mr.  Anderson,  brother  of  the  Mr.  Anderson  at  Leech 
Lake.  He  politely  offered  me  any  provision  he  had  on 
board  (for  which  Mr.  Dickson  had  given  me  an  order), 
but  not  now  being  in  want,  I  did  not  accept  of  any.  This 
day,  for  the  first  time,  I  observed  the  trees  beginning  to 
bud,  and  indeed  the  climate  seemed  to  have  changed  very 
materially  since  we  passed  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony. 

"April  thirteenth,  Sunday. — We  embarked  after 
breakfast.  Messrs.  Frazer  and  Wood  accompanied  me. 
Wind  strong  ahead.  They  out-rowed  us ;  the  first  boat 
or  canoe  we  met  with  on  the  voyage  able  to  do  it,  but 
then  they  were  double  manned  and  light.  Arrived  at 
the  band  of  the  Aile  Rouge  at  two  o'clock,  where  we 
were  saluted  as  usual.     We  had  a  council,  when  he 


PIKE  SPENDS  A  DAY  AT  RED  WING.  269 

spoke  with  more  detestation  of  the  rascals  at  the  mouth 
of  the  St.  Peter's,  than  any  man  I  had  yet  heard.  He 
assured  me,  speaking  of  the  fellow  who  had  fired  on  my 
sentinel  and  threatened  to  kill  me,  that  if  I  thought  it  re- 
quisite, he  should  be  killed ;  but  that,  as  there  were  many 
chiefs  above  with  whom  he  wished  to  speak,  he  hoped 
I  would  remain  one  day,  when  all  the  Sioux  would  be 
do\vT3,  and  I  might  have  the  command  of  a  thousand 
men  of  them,  that  I  would  probably  think  it  no  honour; 
but  that  the  British  used  to  flatter  them  they  were 
proud  of  having  them  for  soldiers.  I  replied  in  general 
terms,  and  assured  him  it  was  not  for  the  conduct  of 
two  or  three  rascals  that  I  meant  to  pass  over  all  the 
good  treatment  I  had  received  from  the  Sioux  nation ; 
but  that  in  general  council  I  would  explain  myself 
That  as  to  the  scoundrel  who  fired  at  my  sentinel,  had 
I  been  at  home  the  Sioux  nation  would  never  have  been 
troubled  with  him,  for  I  would  have  killed  him  on  the 
spot.  But  that  my  young  men  did  not  do  it,  appre- 
hensive that  I  would  be  displeased.  I  then  gave  him 
the  news  of  the  Sauteurs,  that  as  to  remaining  one 
day,  it  would  be  of  no  service ;  that  I  was  much  pressed 
to  arrive  below;  as  my  general  expected  me,  my  duty 
called  me,  and  that  the  state  of  my  provision  demanded 
the  utmost  expedition ;  that  I  would  be  happy  to  oblige 
him,  but  that  my  men  must  eat.  He  replied  that  Lake 
Pepin  being  yet  shut  with  ice,  if  I  went  on  and  en- 
camped on  the  ice,  it  would  not  get  me  provision.  That 
he  would  send  out  all  his  young  men  the  next  day ;  and 
that  if  the  other  ])ands  did  not  arrive,  he  would  depart 
the  day  after  with  me.  In  short,  after  much  talk,  I 
agreed  to  remain  one  day,  knowing  that  the  lake  was 


270  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

closed,  and  that  we  could  proceed  only  nine  miles  if  we 
went;  this  appeared  to  give  general  satisfaction. 

"  I  was  invited  to  different  feasts,  and  entertained  at 
one  by  a  person  whose  father  was  enacted  a  chief  by  the 
Spaniards.  At  this  feast  I  saw  a  man  (called  by  the 
French  the  Roman  Nose,  and  by  the  Indians  the  Wind 
that  Walks)  who  was  formerly  the  second  chief  of  the 
Sioux,  but  being  the  cause  of  the  death  of  one  of  the 
traders,  seven  years  since,  he  voluntarily  relinquished 
the  dignity,  and  has  frequently  requested  to  be  given 
up  to  the  whites.  But  he  was  now  determmed  to  go  to 
St.  Louis  and  deliver  himself  up  where  he  said  they 
might  put  him  to  death.  His  long  repentance,  the 
great  confidence  of  the  nation  in  him,  would  perhaps 
protect  him  from  a  punishment  which  the  crime  merited. 
But  as  the  crime  was  committed  long  before  the  United 
States  assumed  its  authority,  and  as  no  law  of  theirs 
could  affect  it,  unless  it  was  ex  post  facto,  and  had  a 
retrospective  effect,  I  conceived  it  would  certainly  be 
dispunishable  now.  I  did  not  think  proper,  however, 
to  inform  him  so.  I  here  received  a  letter  from  Mr. 
Rollet,  partner  of  Mr.  Cameron,  with  a  present  of  some 
brandy,  coffee,  and  sugar.  I  hesitated  about  receiving 
those  articles  from  the  partner  of  the  man  I  intended 
to  prosecute;  their  amount  being  trifling,  however,  I 
accepted  of  them,  offering  him  pay.  I  assured  him  that 
the  prosecution  arose  from  a  sense  of  duty,  and  not 
from  any  personal  prejudice.  My  canoe  did  not  come 
up  in  consequence  of  the  head  wind.  Sent  out  two 
men  in  a  canoe  to  set  fishing  lines ;  the  canoe  overset, 
and  had  it  not  been  for  the  timely  assistance  of  the 
savages,  who  carried  them  into  their  lodges,  undressed 
them,  and  treated  them  with  the  greatest  humanity  and 


ATTEMPT  TO  TAIvE  PIKE'S  LIFE.  271 

kindness,  tliey  must  inevitably  have  perished.  At  this 
place  I  was  informed,  that  the  rascal  spoken  of  as  hav- 
ing threatened  my  Hfe,  had  actually  cocked  his  gun  to 
shoot  me  from  behind  the  hills,  but  was  prevented  by 
the  others. 

"April  fourteenth,  Monday. — Was  invited  to  a  feast 
by  the  Roman  Nose.  His  conversation  was  interesting, 
and  shall  be  detailed  hereafter.  The  other  Indians  not 
yet  arrived.  Messrs.  Wood,  Frazer,  and  myself,  ascended 
a  high  hill  called  the  Barn,  from  which  we  had  a  view 
of  Lake  Pepin ;  the  valley  through  which  the  Missis- 
sippi by  numerous  channels  wound  itself  to  the  St.  Croix ; 
the  Cannon  river,  and  the  lofty  hills  on  each  side. 

"April  fifteenth,  Tuesday. — Arose  ver}^  early  and 
embarked  about  sunrise,  much  to  the  astonishment  of 
the  Indians,  who  were  entirely  prepared  for  the  council 
when  they  heard  I  had  put  off;  however,  after  some 
conversation  with  Mr.  Frazer,  they  acknowledged  that 
it  was  agreeably  to  what  I  had  said,  that  I  would  sail 
early,  and  that  they  could  not  blame  me.  I  was  very 
positive  in  my  word,  for  I  found  it  by  far  the  best  way 
to  treat  the  Indians.  The  Aile  Rouge  had  a  beaver 
robe  and  pipe  prepared  to  present,  but  was  obliged  for 
the  present  to  retain  it.  Passed  through  Lake  Pepin 
with  my  barges;  the  canoe  being  obliged  to  lay  by,  did 
not  come  on.  Stopped  at  a  prairie  on  the  right  bank 
descending,  about  nine  miles  below  Lake  Pepin.  Went 
out  to  view  some  hills  which  had  the  appearance  of  the 
old  fortifications  spoken  of;  but  I  will  speak  more  fully 
of  them  hereafter.  In  these  hollows  I  discovered  a 
flock  of  elk,  took  out  fifteen  men,  but  we  were  not  able 
to  kill  any.     Mr.  Frazer  came  up  and  passed  on  about 


272  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

two  miles.  We  encamped  together.  Neither  Mr.  Wood's 
nor  my  canoe  arrived.     Snowed  considerably. 

"April  sixteenth,  Wednesday. — Mr.  Frazer's  canoes 
and  my  boats  sailed  about  one  hour  by  sun.  We  waited 
some  time  expecting  Mr.  Wood's  barges  and  my  canoe, 
but  hearing  a  gun  fired  first  just  above  our  encamp- 
ment, we  were  induced  to  make  sail.  Passed  the  Aile 
Prairie,  also  La  Montagne  qui  Trompe  a  L'eau,  the 
prairie  De  Cross,  and  encamped  on  the  west  shore,  a 
few  hundred  yards  below,  where  I  had  encamped  on  the 

day  of  September,  in  ascending.     Killed  a  goose 

flymg.  Shot  at  some  pigeons  at  our  camp,  and  was 
answered  from  behind  an  island  with  two  guns ;  we  re- 
turned them,  and  were  replied  to  by  two  more.  This 
day  the  trees  appeared  in  bloom.  Snow  might  still  be 
seen  on  the  sides  of  the  hills.  Distance  seventy-five 
miles. 

"  April  seventeenth,  Thursday. — Put  ofi"  pretty  early 
and  arrived  at  Wabasha's  band  at  eleven  o'clock,  where 
I  detained  all  day  for  him;  but  he  alone  of  all  the 
hunters  remained  out  all  night.  Left  some  powder  and 
tobacco  for  him.  The  Sioux  presented  me  with  a  kettle 
of  boiled  meat  and  a  deer.  I  here  received  information 
that  the  Puants  had  killed  some  white  men  below.  Mr. 
Wood's  and  my  canoe  arrived. 

"  April  eighteenth,  Friday. — Departed  from  our  en- 
campment very  early.  Stopped  to  breakfast  at  the 
Painted  Rock.  Arrived  at  the  Prairie  Des  Chiens  at 
two  o'clock ;  and  were  received  by  crowds  on  the  bank. 
Took  up  my  quarters  at  Mr.  Fisher's.  My  men  received 
a  present  of  one  barrel  of  pork  from  Mr.  Campbell,  a 
bag  of  biscuit,  twenty  loaves  of  bread,  and  some  meat 


GREAT  BALL  PLAY  AT  PRAIRIE  DU  CHIEN.  273 

from  Mr.  Fisher.  A  Mr.  Jearreau,^  from  Cahokia,  is 
here,  who  embarks  to-morrow  for  St.  Louis.  I  wrote  to 
General  Wilkinson  by  him.  I  was  called  on  by  a  num- 
ber of  chiefs,  Reynards,  Sioux  of  the  Des  Moyan.  The 
Winnebagoes  were  here  intending,  as  I  was  informed, 
to  deliver  some  of  the  murderers  to  me.  Received  a 
great  deal  of  news  from  the  States  and  Europe,  both 
civil  and  military. 

"April  nineteenth,  Saturday. — Dined  at  Mr.  Camp- 
bell's in  company  with  Messrs.  Wilmot,  Blakely,  Wood, 
Rollet,  Fisher,  Frazer,  and  Jearveau.  Six  canoes 
arrived  from  the  upper  part  of  the  St.  Peter's  with  the 
Yanctong  chiefs  from  the  head  of  that  river.  Their 
appearance  was  indeed  savage,  much  more  so  than  any 
nation  I  have  yet  seen.  Prepared  my  boat  for  sail. 
Gave  notice  to  the  Puants  that  I  had  business  to  do  with 
them  the  next  day.  A  band  of  the  Gens  du  Lac 
arrived.  Took  into  my  pay  as  interpreter  Mr.  Y.  Rein- 
ville. 

"  April  twentieth,  Sunday. — Held  a  council  with  the 
Puant  chiefs,  and  demanded  of  them  the  murderers  of 
their  nation  ;  they  required  till  to-morrow  to  consider 
on  it ;  this  afternoon  the^'  had  a  great  game  of  the  cross 
on  the  prairie,  between  the  Sioux  on  the  one  side,  and 
the  Puants  and  Reynards  on  the  other.  The  ball  is 
made  of  some  hard  substance  and  covered  with  leather, 
the  cross  sticks  are  round  and  net-work,  with  handles 
of  three  feet  long.  The  parties  being  ready,  and  bets 
agreed  upon  (sometimes  to  the  amount  of  some  thou- 
sand dollars),  the  goals  are  set  up  on  the  prairie  at  the 
distance  of  half  a  mile.  The  ball  is  thrown  up  in  the 
middle,  and  each  party  strives  to  drive  it  to  the  opposite 

'  Or  Jarrot. 
18 


274  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

goal;  and  when  either  party  gains  the  first  rubber, 
which  is  driving  it  quick  round  the  post,  the  ball  is 
again  taken  to  the  centre,  the  ground  changed,  and  the 
contest  renewed ;  and  this  is  continued  until  one  side 
gains  four  times,  which  decides  the  bet.  It  is  an  inter- 
esting sight  to  see  two  or  three  hundred  naked  savages 
contending  on  the  plain  who  shall  bear  off  the  palm  of 
victory;  he  who  drives  the  ball  round  the  goal  is 
much  shouted  at  by  his  companions.  It  sometimes  hap- 
pens that  one  catches  the  ball  in  his  racket,  and  depend- 
ing on  his  speed  endeavours  to  carry  it  to  the  goal,  and 
when  he  finds  himself  too  closely  pursued,  he  hurls  it 
with  great  force  and  dexterity  to  an  amazing  distance, 
where  there  are  always  flankers  of  both  parties  ready 
to  receive  it ;  it  seldom  touches  the  ground,  but  is  some- 
times kept  in  the  air  for  hours  before  either  party  can 
gain  the  victory.  In  the  game  I  witnessed,  the  Sioux 
were  victorious,  more  I  believe  from  the  superiority  of 
their  skill  in  throwing  the  ball,  than  by  their  s^viftness, 
for  I  thought  the  Puants  and  Reynards  the  swiftest 
runners.  I  made  a  written  demand  of  the  magistrates 
to  take  deposition  concerning  the  late  murders.  Had  a 
private  conversation  with  Wabasha. 

"  April  twenty-fifth,  Monday. — Was  sent  for  by  La 
Feuille,  and  had  a  long  and  interesting  conversation 
with  him,  in  which  he  spoke  of  the  general  jealousy  of 
his  nation  towards  their  chiefs ;  and  that  although  he 
knew  it  might  occasion  some  of  the  Sioux  displeasure, 
he  did  not  hesitate  to  declare  that  he  looked  on  the  Nez 
Corbeau  as  the  man  of  most  sense  in  their  nation ;  and 
that  he  believed  it  would  be  generally  acceptable  if  he 
was  reinstated  in  his  rank.  Uj)on  my  return  I  was  sent 
for  by  the  Red  Thunder,  chief  of  the  Yanctongs,  the 


RED  THUNDER'S  (YANKTON  CHIEF)  SPEECH.  275 

most  savage  band  of  tlie  Sioux.  He  was  prepared  with 
the  most  elegant  pipes  and  robes  I  ever  saw ;  and 
shortly  he  declared,  that  '■  That  white  blood  had  never 
been  shed  in  the  village  of  the  Yanctongs,  even  when 
rum  was  permitted ;  that  Mr.  Murdoch  Cameron  arrived 
at  his  village  last  autumn ;  that  he  invited  him  to  eat, 
gave  him  corn  as  a  bird ;  that  he  (Cameron)  informed 
him  of  the  prohibition  of  rum,  and  was  the  only  person 
who  afterwards  sold  it  in  the  village.'  After  this  I  had 
a  council  with  the  Puants.  Spent  the  evening  with 
Mr.  Wilmot,  one  of  the  best  informed  and  most  gentle- 
manly men  in  the  place. 

"  April  twenty-second,  Tuesda}'. — Held  a  council  with 
the  Sioux  and  Puants,  the  latter  of  whom  delivered  up 
their  medals  and  Hags.    Prepared  to  depart  to-morrow." 


276  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  traders  of  the  North-west  Company,  though 
they  treated  Lieutenant  Pike  with  the  respect  due  his 
commission,  and  extended  to  him  their  hospitality,  did 
not  approve  of  the  policy  that  the  United  States  govern- 
ment were  intending  to  inaugurate. 

They  were  well  aware  if  the  system  of  estabhshing 
central  deputs  of  trade,  with  goods  furnished  by  the 
government  at  low  rates,  was  successful,  that  "  their 
occupation  was  gone."  Influence  was  consequently 
employed  to  prevent  the  tribes  from  patronizing  the 
United  States  factories,  and  cultivating  friendly  inter- 
course with  the  Americans. 

Pike  had  scarcely  disappeared  from  the  waters  of  the 
Mississippi,  before  Dickson,  Kolette,  and  Cameron  dis- 
regarded the  regulations  which  had  been  estabhshed. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  century  Cameron  was 
the  principal  British  trader  on  the  Upper  Minnesota,  and 
the  spot  where  he  was  buried  in  1811,  is  known  among 
voyageurs  as  "  Cameron's  Grave."  He  was  a  shrewd  and 
daring  Scotchman.  One  of  his  employees  was  an  old 
Canadian,  familiarly  called  Milor,  who  has  recently 
died  at  Mendota. 

He  related  a  circumstance  which  occurred  while  in 
the  service  of  Cameron,  which  well  exhibits  the  hard- 


SUFFERINGS  OF  CAMERON'S  YOYAGEURS.  2t  t 

ships  to  which  the  engagees  of  the  fur  trade  are  often 
exposed. 

While  at  one  of  the  outposts  of  Cameron,  on  a  tribu- 
tary of  the  JNIinnesota,  the  winter  suddenly  set  in,  and 
it  was  impossible  to  use  the  canoe.  Hoping  that  there 
Avould  be  a  thaw,  he  and  his  companions  waited  from 
day  to  day,  until  their  provisions  w^ere  exhausted.  The 
weather  remaining  cold,  their  only  alternative  was  to 
place  their  packs  of  furs  beneath  the  upturned  canoe, 
and  seek  the  shelter  of  the  woods,  in  the  hope  that 
Cameron  would  send  relief. 

With  their  last  meal  in  their  pockets,  they  com- 
menced their  journey  through  the  deep  snow.  Meeting 
with  no  game,  when  they  encamped  on  the  evening  of 
the  second  day,  they  were  compelled  by  hunger  to  eat 
of  the  bark  of  a  tree. 

During  the  third  day  two  of  the  party  began  to  fail 
in  strength,  and  to  beg  the  others  to  stop  and  show  that 
they  were  losing  their  judgment.  Milor  gave  no  heed 
to  their  entreaties,  but  pushing  ahead  came  at  dusk 
to  a  place  sheltered  from  the  piercing  wind,  and  there 
found  an  Indian  frozen  to  death  beside  the  remnants  of 
a  small  fire. 

Milor  now  shouted  to  his  fellow  voyageurs,  and  told 
them  that  to  stop  was  to  secure  a  similar  fate. 
Frightened  by  the  scene,  they  quickened  their  pace,  until 
late  at  night.  Milor  and  another  succeeded  in  catching 
two  muskrats,  and,  building  up  a  good  fire,  they  feasted 
on  one  of  the  rats,  and  rested  till  the  break  of  day. 

Making  a  breakfast  on  the  remaining  rat,  the  party 
resumed  their  march,  Milor  encouraging  them  by  saying 
that  they  would  soon  come  to  a  place  where  there  was 
an  abundance  of  muskrats,  and  that  as  soon  as  they  had 


278  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

laid  in  a  supply  of  them,  they  would  strike  for  Traverse 
des  Sioux,  when  they  would  be  sure  to  hear  of  Cameron 
and  obtain  food. 

For  several  days  they  found  but  one  muskrat ;  but  on 
the  morning  of  the  eighth  day,  after  they  had  been 
marching  an  hour,  Milor,  looking  attentively  in  a  south- 
east direction,  declared  that  he  saw  smoke,  and  that 
there  must  be  a  fire.  This,  for  a  time,  had  the  exhila- 
rating effect  of  wine ;  but  after  two  or  three  hours  the 
sign  disappeared,  and  they  began  to  despond ;  when  the 
thought  came  to  Milor  that  if  there  was  a  party  coming 
to  their  relief,  they  would  be  on  the  lookout  also.  In 
less  than  half  an  hour  he  had  ascended  a  bluff,  and 
descried  a  thick  column  of  smoke,  about  three  miles 
distant.  Waving  his  cap  to  his  companions,  and  shout- 
ing for  joy,  he  hurried  in  that  direction,  and  found  a 
party  who  had  come  to  their  aid.  Two  men  were  there, 
each  with  a  pack  of  pork  and  biscuit,  which  had  been 
despatched  from  Traverse  des  Sioux,  while  Cameron 
and  three  others  were  expecting  to  start  wdth  an  addi- 
tional supply.  When  the  fatigued  party  came  into 
camp,  they  literally  danced  for  joy.  Feathers tonhaugh, 
who  relates  the  storj^,  remarks :  "  This  incident  is  very 
much  to  the  credit  of  Cameron,  who  made  so  resolute 
an  attempt  to  relieve  his  poor  engagees,  when  the 
chances  of  success  were  so  few." 

As  early  as  the  year  1807,  it  was  evident  that  under 
some  secret  influence  the  Indian  tribes  of  the  North- 
west were  combining  with  hostile  intentions  towards 
the  United  States.  In  the  year  1809,  a  trader  by  the 
name  of  Nicholas  Jarrot,  who  frequently  visited  Prairie 
du  Chien,  made  an  affidavit  at  Saint  Louis,  that  the 
British  traders  at  that  place  were  furnishing  the  Indians 


DICKSON— HIS  CHARACTER  AND  INFLUENCE.  279 

with  guns  for  hostile  purposes.  Messengers  from  the 
Prophet,  brother  of  Tecumseh,  painted  bhick,  were  sent 
among  the  Ojibways,  and  ui  solemn  council  they  told 
the  astonished  natives  that  the  Prophet  who  sent  them 
had  been  told  hy  one  of  the  great  spirits  that  it  was 
the  will  of  the  gods  that  Indians  should  live  independent 
of  the  whites,  and  return  to  primitive  usages.  The 
flint  and  steel  were  to  be  discarded ;  and  fire  obtained 
as  of  old,  hy  the  friction  of  two  sticks.  To  those  who 
believed  the  message,  blessings  were  promised.  They 
also  claimed  that  the  Prophet  could  resuscitate  the  dead. 
The  late  William  Warren  asserts  that  a  dead  child  was 
taken  from  Lake  Ottawa  to  Keweena,  on  Lake  Superior, 
for  the  purpose  of  having  it  brought  to  life  by  the  Pro- 
phet ;  but  putrefaction  having  taken  place,  the  project 
was  abandoned. 

At  this  period,  a  red-haired  Scotchman,  of  strong 
intellect,  good  family,  and  ardent  attachment  to  the 
crown  of  England,  was  at  the  head  of  the  Indian  trade 
in  Minnesota.  Pike,  who  visited  him  in  1806,  at  one 
of  his  trading  posts  near  Sauk  Rapids,  describes  *him  as 
"  a  gentleman  of  general  commercial  knowledge,  and  of 
open,  frank  manners."  Governor  Edwards  of  Illinois, 
writing  to  the  secretary  of  war,  says :  "  The  opinion  of 
Dickson,  the  celebrated  British  trader,  is,  that,  in  the 
event  of  a  war  with  Great  Britain,  all  the  Indians  will 
be  opposed  to  us,  and  he  hoj^es  to  engage  them  in  hos- 
tility by  making  peace  between  the  Sioux  and  Chippe- 
ways,  and  in  having  them  to  declare  war  against  us." 
A  source  of  influence  among  the  Dahkotahs  of  Minne- 
sota was  the  fact  that  he  had  married  a  sister  of  Red 
Thunder,  one  of   their   bravest  chiefs,  and   that    the 


280  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA.   • 

British  government  had  appointed  him  agent  and  super- 
intendent of  the  western  tribes. 

On  the  first  of  May,  1812,  two  Indians  were  appre- 
hended at  Chicago,  who  Avere  on  their  way  to  meet 
Dickson  at  Green  Bay.  They  had  taken  the  precaution 
to  put  their  letters  in  their  moccasins,  and  bury  them 
in  the  ground,  and  were  allowed  to  proceed. 

A  Mr.  Frazer,  of  Prairie  du  Chien,  who  was  present 
at  the  portage  of  the  Wisconsin,  when  the  Indians  deli- 
vered the  letters,  stated  that  Dickson  was  informed  that 
the  British  flag  would  soon  be  flying  on  the  American 
garrison  at  Mackinaw.  About  this  time,  Cadotte,  Deace, 
and  John  Askin  were  at  Fond  du  Lac,  Minnesota, 
collecting  Ojibway  warriors.  At  Green  Bay,  Black 
Hawk  was  formally  created  commander-in-chief  of  the 
Indian  forces,  by  Dickson  presenting  him  with  a  medal 
and  certificate,  a  British  flag  of  silk. 

The  garrison  at  Mackinaw  was  composed  of  fifty-seven 
soldiers,  with  a  lieutenant  in  command.  Before  Lieu- 
tenant Hanks  was  aware  that  war  had  been  proclaimed 
by  the  United  States,  he  was  surprised  by  a  force  of 
British  soldiers  and  Indians  landing  from  a  ship  that 
belonged  to  the  North-west  Company,  and  numerous 
batteaux  and  birch  canoes.  With  the  British  army 
were  traders  who  had  long  been  familiar  with  the  tribes 
of  Wisconsin  and  Minnesota,  Askin,  Langlade,  Michael 
Cadotte,  and  Joseph  Rolette.  The  American  officer, 
perceiving  the  overwhelming  force  of  the  enemy,  which 
consisted  of  forty  regulars  of  the  royal  veteran  batta- 
lion, two  hundred  and  sixty  Canadians,  with  their  bour- 
geois or  employees,  and  several  hundred  Dahkotah,  Ojib- 
way, Winnebago,  and  Menomonee  Indians,  capitulated 
without  firing  a  single  gun  on  July  the  seventeenth,  1812. 


INVITATION  TO  EAT  AN  AMERICAN.  281 

An  American  gentleman,  who  had  been  made  pris- 
oner, writes  from  Detroit  on  August  sixth,  to  the  Sec- 
retary of  War : — 

"  The  persons  who  commanded  the  Indians  are  Eobert 
Dickson,  Indian  trader,  and  John  Askin,  Jr.,  Indian 
agent,  and  son.  The  latter  two  were  painted  and  dressed 
after  the  manner  of  the  Indians.  Those  who  com- 
manded the  Canadians  are  John  Johnson,  Crawford, 
Pothier,  Armitinger,  La  Croix,  Rolette,  Franks,  Living- 
ston and  other  traders,  some  of  whom  were  lately  con- 
cerned in  smuggling  British  goods  into  the  Indian 
country,  and,  in  conjunction  with  others,  have  been 
using  their  utmost  efforts,  several  months  before  the 
declaration  of  war,  to  excite  the  Indians  to  take  up 
arms.  The  least  resistance  from  the  fort  would  have 
been  attended  with  the  destruction  of  all  the  persons 
who  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  British,  as  I  have  been 
assured  by  some  of  the  British  traders." 

The  next  year  Dickson,  Renville,  and  other  Minne- 
sota traders,  are  present  with  the  Kaposia,  Wapashaw, 
and  other  bands  of  Dahkotahs,  at  the  siege  of  Fort 
Meigs. 

While  Renville  was  seated  one  afternoon  with  Wapsr 
shaw,  and  the  then  chief  of  the  Kaposia  band,  a  deputar 
tion  came  to  invite  them  to  meet  the  other  allied  Indians, 
with  which  the  chiefs  complied. 

Frazer,  an  old  trader  in  Minnesota,  came  and  told 
Renville  that  the  Indians  were  about  to  eat  an  Ame- 
rican. On  repairing  to  the  spot,  the  flesh  was  found 
carved  up,  and  apportioned  in  dishes,  one  for  each 
nation  present.  The  bravest  man  of  each  tribe  was 
urged  to  step  forward  and  partake  of  the  heart  and 


282  HISTORY  OF  xMINNESOTA. 

head,  and  only  one  warrior  of  a  tribe  was  allowed  to 
partake  of  these  rarities. 

Among  those  assembled  there  was  a  nephew  of  the 
Kaposia  chief,  known  among  the  traders  as  the  Grand 
Chasseur,  who  was  pressed  by  a  Winnebago  to  partake 
of  the  human  flesh.  In  a  moment  his  uncle  told  him 
to  leave  the  feast,  and,  arising,  made  a  speech  creditable 
to  his  humanity : — 

"  My  friends,"  said  he,  "  we  came  here  not  to  eat 
Americans,  but  to  wage  war  against  them;  that  will 
suffice  for  us ;  and  could  we  do  that  if  left  to  our  own 
forces  ?  We  are  poor  and  destitute,  while  they  possess 
the  means  of  sujDplying  themselves  with  all  that  they 
require ;  we  ought  not  therefore  to  do  such  things.'" 

Wapashaw  then  spoke  in  these  words,  "  We  thought 
that  you,  who  live  near  to  white  men,  were  wiser  and 
more  refined  than  we  are  who  live  at  a  distance ;  but 
it  must  indeed  be  otherwise  if  you  do  such  deeds." 

Col.  Dickson,  sending  for  the  Winnebago,  who  origi- 
nated the  disgusting  feast,  asked  what  impelled  him  to 
such  a  course.  To  which  the  savage  replied,  that  it 
was  better  for  him  to  kill  the  American  and  eat  him, 
than  it  was  for  the  Americans  to  bum  his  house,  ravish 
and  murder  his  wife  and  daughters. 

The  citizens  of  the  United  States,  in  the  valley  of  the 
Mississippi,  now  began  to  feel  uneasy ;  and  in  the  Mis- 
souri Gazette  of  July  thirty-first,  1813,  published  at 
St.  Louis,  there  is  a  plea  by  the  editor,  for  the  defence 
of  Prairie  du  Chien  : — 

"  Last  winter,"  he  says,  "  we  endeavoured  to  turn  the 
attention  of  the  government  toward  Prairie  du  Chien, 
a  position  which  we  ought  to  occupy  by  establishing  a 
military  post  at  the  village,  or  on  the  Ouisconsm.     For 


FIRST  AMERICAN  FORT  AT  PRAIRIE  DU  CIIIEN.  283 

several  months  we  have  not  been  able  to  procure  any 
other  than  Indian  information  from  the  prairie,  the 
enemy  having  cut  off  all  communication ;  but  we  are 
persuaded  that  permanent  subsistence  can  be  obtained 
for  one  thousand  regular  troops  in  the  upper  lake  coun- 
try. At  Prairie  du  Chien  there  are  about  fifty  families, 
most  of  whom  are  engaged  in  agriculture.  Their  com- 
mon field  is  four  miles  long  by  half  a  mile  in  breadth. 
Besides  this  field  they  have  three  separate  farms,  and 
twelve  horse-mills  to  manufacture  their  produce." 

In  February,  1814,  the  Americans  captured  St.  Jo- 
seph's, in  Lake  Huron,  not  far  from  Saiilt  St.  Marie, 
and  Mr.  Bailly  and  five  others  connected  with  the 
Mackinaw  Company  were  taken  prisoners. 

On  the  first  of  May,  1814,  Governor  Clark,  with  two 
hundred  men,  left  St.  Louis,  to  build  a  fort  at  the  junc- 
tion of  the  Wisconsin  and  Mississippi.  Twenty  days 
before  he  arrived  at  Pi-airie  du  Chien,  Dickson  had 
started  for  Mackinaw  with  a  band  of  Dahkotahs  and 
Winnebagoes.  The  place  was  left  in  command  of 
Captain  Deace  and  the  Mackinaw  Fencibles.  The 
Dahkotahs  refusing  to  co-operate,  when  the  Americans 
made  their  appearance  they  fled.  The  Americans  took 
possession  of  the  old  Mackinaw  house,  in  which  they 
found  nine  or  ten  trunks  of  papers  belonging  to  Dick- 
son.    From   one   they  took   the  following   extract : — 

"  Arrived,  from  below,  a  few  Winnebagoes  with  scalps. 
Gave  them  tobacco,  six  pounds  powder,  and  six  pounds 
ball." 

A  fort  was  immediately  commenced  on  the  site  of  the 
residence  of  11.  L.  Dousman,  which  was  composed  of  two 
block-houses  in  the  angles,  and  another  on  the  bank  of 
the    river,    with    a   subterranean    communication.     In 


284  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

honour  of  the  governor  of  Kentucky  it  was  named 
''  Shelby." 

The  fort  was  in  charge  of  Lieutenant  Perkins,  and 
sixty  rank  and  file,  and  two  gun-boats,  each  of  which 
carried  a  six-pounder ;  and  several  howitzers  were  com- 
manded by  Captains  Yeiser,  SulUvan,  and  Aid-de-camp 
Kennerly. 

The  traders  at  Mackinaw,  learning  that  the  Ameri- 
cans had  built  a  fort  at  the  Prairie,  and  knowing  that 
as  long  as  they  held  possession  they  would  be  cut  ofi" 
from  the  trade  with  the  Dahkotahs,  they  immediately 
raised  an  expedition  to  capture  the  garrison. 

The  captain  was  an  old  trader  by  the  name  of  McKay, 
and  under  him  was  a  sergeant  of  artillery,  with  a  brass 
six-pounder,  and  three  or  four  volunteer  companies  of 
Canadian  voyageurs,  commanded  by  traders  and  officered 
by  their  clerks,  all  dressed  in  red  coats,  with  a  number 
of  Indians. 

The  Americans  had  scarcely  completed  their  rude 
fortification,  before  the  British  force,  guided  by  Joseph 
Rolette,  Sr.,  descended  in  canoes  to  a  point  on  the  Wis- 
consin, several  miles  from  the  Prairie,  to  which  they 
marched  in  battle  array.  McKay  sent  a  flag  demand- 
ing a  surrender;  Lieutenant  Perkins  rephed  that  he 
would  defend  it  to  the  last. 

At  three  o'clock,  on  the  afternoon  of  July  seventeenth, 
the  British  and  Indians  attacked  the  gun-boat  of  Captain 
Yeiser ;  the  Indians  firing  from  behind  the  houses  and 
pickets.  The  boat  moved  up  toward  the  head  of  the 
village,  discharging  volleys,  which  were  quickly  an- 
swered by  the  British,  The  enemy  now  crossed  the 
river,  and  commenced  an  attack  from  the  opposite  side, 


AMERICANS  RETREAT  FROM  PRAIRIE  DU  CHIEN.  285 

which  caused  Captain  Yeiser  to  run  his  boat  through 
the  enemy's  lines  to  a  point  a  few  miles  below. 

Lieutenant  Perkins,  in  the  meantime,  fought  bravely 
in  the  fort  for  three  days  and  nights.  Provisions,  am- 
munition, and  water,  began  to  fail,  and  the  enemy  were 
approaching  the  pickets  by  mining.  He  therefore  wisely' 
surrendered,  capitulating  that  they  were  to  retain  their 
private  property,  and  not  to  serve  until  duly  exchanged. 
After  placing  them  on  parol,  the  British  commander 
escorted  them  to  the  gun-boat  "Governor  Clark,"  in 
which  they  had  arrived  only  a  month  before,  and  sent 
them  down  the  river. 

In  their  descent  they  were  followed  by  a  party  of  the 
blood-thirsty  savages  in  canoes,  who  did  not  turn  back 
until  they  reached  Rock  Island. 

About  the  time  of  the  capture,  a  detachment  of  troops 
were  on  their  way  from  St.  Louis,  under  the  command 
of  a  Lieut.  Campbell,  to  strengthen  the  garrison.  Ar- 
riving at  Rock  Island,  he  held  a  conference  with  Black 
Hawk  at  his  village.  A  few  moments  after  his  depar- 
ture, runners,  by  way  of  Rock  River,  brought  the  news 
to  the  Sauk  village  that  the  Americans  had  been  de- 
feated at  Prairie  du  Chien. 

Immediately  they  started  in  pursuit  of  Campbell's 
party,  which  they  overtook  at  a  small  island  near  the 
Illinois  shore,  about  three  miles  above  their  village. 
A  fierce  encounter  took  place,  in  which  the  Americans 
were  worsted.  The  officer  was  wounded,  several  men 
were  killed,  and  one  of  their  boats  captured,  so  that  it 
became  necessary  to  retreat  to  St.  Louis.  Fort  Shel- 
by, after  the  capture,  was  called  Fort  McKay.  After 
the  attack  of  Black  Hawk  on  Campbell,  the  commander 
of  Fort  McKay  erected  a  battery,  with  two  twelve- 


286  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

pounders  and  six  painted  wooden  guns,  near  Rock 
Island,  on  the  east  side  of  the  river. 

Late  in  August,  1814,  Major  Zachary  Taylor,  the 
late  president  of  the  United  States,  proceeded  in  some 
gun-boats  to  punish  the  Indians  who  had  attacked 
Campbell ;  but  on  his  arrival  he  was  astonished  to  find 
the  British  there  with  a  large  force  of  Indians.  It  was 
a  bright,  beautiful  morning  in  September  when  the 
engagement  began,  and  the  first  cannon  ball  fired  from 
the  British  battery  passed  through  one  of  Taylor's  gun- 
boats, commanded  by  Captain  Hempstead. 

Taylor,  like  Campbell,  soon  had  his  boats  disabled, 
and  was  obliged  to  drop  down  the  stream  about  three 
miles  to  repair,  and  attend  to  the  wounded.  During 
the  conflict  it  became  necessary  for  some  one  to  carry 
a  cable  from  a  disabled  boat  which  was  drifting  towards 
the  Indians  to  one  commanded  by  CajDtain  Whiteside. 
A  youth  of  twenty-three,  named  Paul  Harpole,  per- 
formed the  undertaking  successfully,  but  having  done 
this,  he  lingered  and  fired  fourteen  guns  which  were 
handed  him  at  the  enemy,  when  he  himself  was  shot. 
His  body,  floating  down  the  stream,  was  seized  by  yell- 
ing savages  and  cut  into  many  pieces.  In  the  engage- 
ment eleven  Americans  were  badly  wounded. 

Among  those  who  came  in  Captain  Yeiser's  gun-boat 
to  St.  Louis,  after  the  surrender  of  Prairie  du  Chien, 
was  a  friendly  "one-eyed  Sioux,"  who  had  behaved 
gallantly  when  the  boat  was  attacked  by  British  artil- 
lery. In  the  fall  of  the  same  year,  this  one-eyed  Sioux, 
with  another  of  the  same  nation,  ascended  the  Missouri 
under  the  protection  of  the  distinguished  trader,  Manual 
Lisa,  as  far  as  the  Au  Jacques  river,  and  from  thence 
he  struck  across  the  country,  enlisting  the  Sioux  in 


DICKSON  AND  THE  "ONE-EYED  SIOUX."  287 

favour  of  the  United  States,  and  at  length  arrived  at 
Prairie  du  Chien.  On  his  arrival,  Dickson  accosted  him, 
and  inquired  from  whence  he  came,  and  what  was  his 
business ;  at  the  same  time  rudely  snatching  his  bundle 
from  his  shoulders,  and  searching  for  letters.  The 
"  one-eyed  warrior"  told  him  that  he  was  from  St.  Louis, 
and  that  he  had  promised  the  white  chiefs  there  that 
he  would  go  to  Prairie  du  Chien,  and  that  he  had  kept 
his  promise. 

Dickson  then  placed  him  in  confinement  in  Fort  Mc- 
Kay, as  the  garrison  was  called  by  the  British,  and 
ordered  him  to  divulge  what  information  he  possessed, 
or  he  would  put  him  to  death.  But  the  faithful  fellow 
said  he  would  impart  nothing,  and  that  he  was  ready 
for  death  if  he  wished  to  kill  him.  Finding  that  con- 
finement had  no  effect,  Dickson  at  last  liberated  him. 
He  then  left,  and  visited  the  bands  of  Sioux  on  the 
Upper  Mississippi,  with  which  he  passed  the  winter. 
When  he  returned  in  the  spring,  Dickson  had  gone  to 
Mackinaw,  and  Captain  Bulger  was  in  command  of  the 
fort. 

While  there,  on  May  twenty-third,  1815,  the  British 
evacuated  the  fort,  the  news  of  peace  having  arrived. 
As  they  retired,  they  fired  the  fort  with  the  American 
colours  flying;  and  the  brave  Sioux,  exposing  himself 
to  the  flames,  rushed  in  and  bore  off"  the  American  flag 
and  an  American  medal. 

This  one-eyed  Sioux,  if  Dr.  Foster  of  Hastings  is 
correct,  is  still  living.  In  an  article  published  in  the 
Minnesota  Democrat,  May,  1854,  he  speaks  of  the  sign- 
ers of  the  treaty  between  Pike,  on  the  part  of  the  Uni- 
ted States,  and  the  Dahkohtahs,  and  says : — 

"  I  have  omitted  till  the  last,  mention  of  Le  Orig- 


288  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

nal  Lev6,  who,  next  to  Little  Crow,  appears  to  have 
been  the  most  prominent  individual  present.  Pike  calls 
him  '  my  friend,'  and  seems  to  have  made  him  some 
marked  presents — indeed,  the  Indian  relationship  and 
tie  of  comradeship  was  probably  adopted  between  them. 
Pike  says  he  'was  a  war  chief,  and  that  he  gave  him 
my  [his]  father's  tomahawk,'  though  what  he  means  by 
that,  passes  my  comprehension.  In  the  table  of  Indian 
chiefs,  in  the  appendix  to  Pike's  Journal,  he  is  set  down 
as  belonging  to  the  Meday wokant'wans ;  his  Indian 
name  is  given  as  Tahamie,  his  French  as  L'Orignal  Leve, 
and  his  English  as  the  '  Rising  Moose,'  which  is  stated 
to  be  literally  translated. 

"I  believe  this  war  chief  to  be  identical  with  the 
aged  Indian,  with  whom  most  of  the  old  settlers  are 
familiar  by  the  name  of  Tah-mah-haw,  whose  character- 
istics are  one  eye,  and  his  always  wearing  a  stove-pipe 
hat.  He  is  remarkable  among  the  Sioux — and  it  is  his 
greatest  pride  and  boast,  that  he  is  the  only  American 
in  his  tribe.  This  is  explained  by  the  fact,  that  in  the 
war  with  Great  Britain  in  1812,  when  the  rest  of  the 
Sioux  sided  with  the  British,  and  when  Little  Crow, 
with  Joseph  Renville,  led  on  a  war  party  to  join  the 
British  army  against  us,  he  refused  to  participate  on 
that  side,  and  joined  the  Americans  at  St.  Louis,  where 
he  was  employed  by  General  Clarke,  in  the  American 
service. 

"  He  has  now  in  his  possession,  and  carefully  keeps  a 
commission  from  General  Clarke,  dated  in  1814,  as  a 
chief  of  the  Sioux;  the  commission  says  of  the  Red 
Wing  band  of  Indians — which  was  originally  part  of 
Wabashaw's  band. 

"K  he  is  the  same  person  as  L'Orignal  Leve,  then 


FOSTER'S  ACCOUNT  OF  TAMAHAW.  289 

Pike  and  his  Indian  comrade  fought  in  th6  same  ranks, 
and  the  friendship  the  latter  imbibed  at  Pike's  visit  for 
the  Americans,  stood  the  test  of  time  and  vicissitudes. 

"  He  deserves  on  this  account  to  receive  from  the  go- 
vernment authorities,  special  and  marked  attention. 

"Joseph  Mojou,  an  old  Canadian  of  Point  Prescott, 
told  me  that  Tamahaw  was  called  by  the  voyageurs, 
the  'Old  Priest,'  because  he  was  a  great  talker  on  all 
occasions.  In  Sioux,  taimcamda  means  to  talk  earnestly ; 
to  vociferate ;  and  this  bears  some  resemblance  to  his 
Indian  name  as  at  present  pronounced. 

"My  friend  Mr.  Hatch  informs  me,  when  he  traded 
with  the  Winnebagoes  and  with  the  Sioux  of  Wabashaw 
band,  he  knew  him,  and  has  seen  his  commission  from 
General  Clarke.  The  Winnebagoes,  who  wxre  ac- 
quainted with  him,  translated  his  name  to  mean  the 
pike  fish,  and  therefore  called  him  Nazeekali — though 
tah-mah-lmy  and  not  tah-mah-liaw,  is  the  word  for  'pike' 
in  the  Dakotah  tongue. 

"  It  may  be  thought  more  pains  are  taken  to  elucidate 
this  personal  history  of  an  old  Indian,  than  the  subject 
warrants.  But  when  we  reflect  that  this  old  Indian 
was  the  contemporary,  if  not  personal  friend  of  Pike; 
that  he  and  one  other  Sioux  were  of  all  his  tribe  who 
sided  with  the  Americans  in  the  war  of  I8I2;  there  is 
an  interest  justly  attached  to  his  identity  and  history, 
which  deserves  more  than  ordinary  attention.  The 
other  Sioux  who,  like  Tamahaw,  joined  the  Americans 
in  1812,  was  Hay-pee-dan,  who  belonged  to  Wakootay's 
band.     He  is  now  deceased." 

As  late  as  1817,  Colonel  Dickson  was  living  in  Min- 
nesota, at  Lake  Traverse,  and  the  Indian  agent  at 
Prairie  du  Chien  suspected  that  he  was  alienating  the 

19 


290  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

Dalikotahs  frOin  the  United  States,  and  in  company  with 
Lord  Selkirk,  striving  to  secure  their  trade,  as  the  fol- 
lowing extract  from  his  letter  of  February  sixteenth, 
1818,  to  the  governor  of  Illmois  will  show: — 

"  What  do  you  suppose,  sir,  has  been  the  result  of  the 
passage  through  my  agency  of  this  British  nobleman  ?^ 
Two  entire  bands,  and  part  of  a  third,  all  Sioux,  have 
deserted  us  and  joined  Dickson,  who  has  distributed  to' 
them  large  quantities  of  Indian  presents,  together  with 
flags,  medals,  etc.  Knowing  this,  what  must  have  been 
my  feelings  on  hearuig  that  his  lordship  had  met  with 
a  favourable  reception  at  St.  Louis.  The  newspapers 
announcing  his  arrival,  and  general  Scottish  appearance, 
all  tend  to  discompose  me;  believing  as  I  do,  that  he  is 
plotting  vnih  his  friend  Dickson  our  destruction — 
sharpening  the  savage  scalping  knife,  and  colonizing  a 
tract  of  country,  so  remote  as  that  of  the  Red  River,  for 
the  purpose,  no  doubt,  of  monopolizing  the  fur  and 
peltry  trade  of  this  river,  the  Missouri  and  their  waters ; 
a  trade  of  the  first  importance  to  our  Western  States 
and  Territories.  A  courier  who  had  arrived  a  few  days 
since,  confirms  the  belief  that  Dickson  is  endeavouring 
to  undo  what  I  have  done,  and  secure  to  the  British 
government  the  affections  of  the  Sioux,  and  subject  the 
North-west  Company  to  his  lordship.  ***** 
Dickson,  as  I  have  before  observed,  is  situated  near  the 
head  of  the  St.  Peter  s,  to  which  place  he  transports  his 
goods  from  Selkirk's  Red  River  establishment,  in  carts 
made  for  the  purpose.  The  trip  is  performed  in  five 
days,  sometimes  less.  He  is  directed  to  build  a  fort 
on  the  highest  land  between  Lac  du  Traverse  and  Red 

^  Earl  of  Selkirk.    The  agent's  fears  were  entirely  groundless. 


DICKSON'S  TRUE  CHARACTER.  291 

River,  which  he  supposes  will  be  the  established  line  be- 
tween the  two  countries.  This  fort  will  be  defended  by 
twenty  men,  with  two  small  pieces  of  artillery." 

It  is  said  that  after  this,  Dickson  was  arrested  be- 
tween the  Minnesota  and  St.  Croix,  and  carried  to  St. 
Louis. 

Dickson,  though  an  active  partisan,  is  beheved  to 
have  been  a  humane  man.  The  American  papers  were 
naturally  prejudiced  against  him,  and  all  the  cruelties 
of  the  savages  were  charged  upon  him.  Says  one  editor 
at  that  day  :  '•  How  will  the  English  government,  and 
their  agent,  Robert  Dickson,  a  native  of  Scotland,  appear 
when  it  is  announced  to  the  world,  that  he  employed  a 
Sauk  warrior  to  assassinate  Governor  Clarke  at  Prairie 
du  Chien  ?  The  governor's  timely  shifting  of  his  sword 
alarmed  and  deterred  from  the  commission  of  the  act." 
There  appears  to  have  been  no  real  foundation  for  any 
such  impression.  On  the  contrary,  when  Black  Hawk 
expressed  a  desire  to  attack  the  defenceless  settlements 
on  the  Mississippi,  Dickson  remonstrated,  saying  "  that 
he  had  been  a  trader  on  the  Mississippi  many  years ; 
had  always  been  kindly  treated ;  and  could  not  consent 
to  send  brave  men  to  murder  women  and  children. 
That  there  was  no  soldiers  there  to  fight,  but  where  he 
was  going  to  send  the  Indians  there  were  a  number  of 
soldiers,  and  if  they  defeated  them,  the  Mississippi 
country  should  be  given  up  to  them."^ 

'  Ramsay  Crooks   of  New  York  Lakes  to  the  Missouri,  and  from  the 

city,  in  a  letter  to  Hon.  H.  M,  Rice,  Wabash   to   the   boundary  between 

October  IG,  1857,  writes.  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain. 

"  I    first  went  to   Mackinaw  in  Dickson's   connection    as    a   trader 

1805,  as  a  clerk  to  Robert  Dickson  with  the  Indians  was  almost -entire- 

&  Co.,  who  were  then  engapjed  in  the  ly  with  the  Scioux,  (Dahcotahs)  of 

trade  with   the    Indians   from   the  St.  Peters,  (Minnesota)  ***** 


292  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

Ill  1815,  Wapashaw  and  Little  Crow,  of  the  Kaposia 
band,  visited  the  British  post  at  Drummond's  Island  in 
Lake  Huron,  at  the  request  of  the  commanding  officer, 
who  desired  to  thank  them  in  the  name  of  his  majesty, 
for  the  services  the  Dahkotahs  had  rendered  during  the 
war.  After  his  remark,  she  pointed  to  a  few  presents  on 
the  floor,  which  called  forth  the  following  speeches : — 

"  My  Father,"  said  Wapashaw,  "  what  is  this  I  see 
before  me  ?  A  few  knives  and  blankets !  Is  this  all 
you  promised  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  ?  Where  are 
those  promises  you  made  at  Michilimackinac,  and  sent 
to  our  villages  on  the  Mississippi?  You  told  us  you 
would  never  let  fall  the  hatchet  until  the  Americans 
were  driven  beyond  the  mountains ;  that  our  British 
Father  would  never  make  peace  without  consulting  his 
red  children.  Has  that  come  to  pass  ?  We  never  knew 
of  this  peace.  We  are  told  it  was  made  by  our  Great 
Father  beyond  the  water,  without  the  knowledge  of  his 
war  chiefs;  that  it  is  your  duty  to  obey  his  orders. 
What  is  this  to  us  ?  Will  these  paltry  presents  pay  for 
the  men  we  have  lost  both  in  the  battle  and  in  the  war? 
Will  they  soothe  the  feelings  of  our  friends  ?  Will  they 
make  good  your  promises  to  us  ?  For  myself  I  am  an 
old  man.  I  have  lived  long  and  always  found  the  means 
of  subsistence,  and  I  can  do  so  still !" 

The  Little  Crow,  w^iose  residence  at  that  time  was 
just  below  St.  Paul,  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  was 
more  indignant.  With  vehemence  he  said,  "  After  we 
have  fought  for  you,  endured  many  hardships,  lost  some 

I  was  proud  to  call  Robert  Dickson  ferocity  of  the  Indians  on  the  fron- 

my  friend,  and  I  shall  ever  cherish  tier,  in  the  war  of  1812,  although  he 

his  memory  as  a  man  who  exerted  was  branded  as  the  worst  of  savages, 

himself  in  restraining  the  natural  at  the  very  time." 


FORMATION  OF  THE  AMERICAN  FUR  COMPANY.  293 

of  our  people,  and  awakened  the  vengeance  of  our  power- 
ful neighbours,  you  make  a  peace  for  yourselves,  and 
leave  us  to  obtain  such  terms  as  we  can !  You  no  longer 
need  our  services,  and  offer  these  goods  as  a  compensar 
tion  for  having  deserted  us.  But  no !  we  will  not  take 
them;  we  hold  them  and  yourselves  in  equal  contempt!"' 
So  saying,  he  spurned  the  presents  with  his  foot,  and 
walked  away.  On  the  nineteenth  of  July,  at  Portage 
des  Sioux,  a  treaty  was  concluded  between  the  Dahko- 
tahs  of  the  Mississippi,  Minnesota,  and  the  Yankton 
division,  and  the  United  States,  in  which  it  was  stipu- 
lated that  there  should  be  perpetual  peace  between 
them,  and  that  all  previous  acts  of  hostility  should  be 
mutually  forgiven  and  forgotten. 

After  the  fame  of  the  North-west  Company  was  esta- 
blished, another  association  of  traders  was  formed,  called 
the  Mackinaw  Company.  In  1809  Astor  organized  the 
American  Fur  Company,  and  after  two  ^ears  bought 
out  the  Mackinaw  Company,  and  created  a  new  com- 
pany distinguished  as  the  South-west.  During  the 
winter  of  1815-16  Congress  enacted  a  law,  that  no 
foreigner  should  engage  in  the  Indian  trade  who  did 
not  become  a  citizen.  Astor,  after  this,  established  a 
company  with  a  former  title,  the  American  Fur  Com- 
pany. 

The  Indian  trade  of  the  North-west  was  so  completely 
in  the  hands  of  British  subjects,  that  it  was  discovered 
that  the  trade  could  not  be  carried  on  without  their  aid, 
and  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  issued  a  circular, 
allowing  the  Indian  agents  to  license  interpreters  and 
voyageurs,  who  might  be  employed  by  the  American 
traders. 

Under  tlie  new  arrangements,  American  citizens  began 


294  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

to  identify  themselves  with  the  fur  trade  of  Minnesota. 
As  early  as  1816  the  late  Judge  Lockwood  of  Prairie 
du  Chien,  in  the  capacity  of  clerk,  took  charge  of  a 
trading  post,  near  the  sources  of  the  Minnesota.  His 
remarks,  in  relation  to  the  Indian  trade,  which  are 
given  in  his  personal  reminiscences,^  show  an  intimate 
acquaintance  with  the  trader's  life  : — 

"  Tradition  says  that  many  years  since,  when  there 
were  many  wintering  traders  in  both  the  Upper  and 
Lower  Mississippi,  it  was  the  custom  of  every  trader 
visiting  Prairie  du  Chien,  to  have  in  store  a  keg  of 
eight  or  nine  gallons  of  good  'vvine  for  convivial  purposes 
when  they  should  again  meet  in  the  spring,  on  which 
occasions  they  would  have  great  dinner  parties,  and,  as 
is  the  English  custom,  drink  largely.  But,  when  I  came 
into  the  country,  there  were  but  few  of  the  old  traders 
remaining,  and  the  storing  of  wine  at  Prairie  du  Chien 
had  become  almost  obsolete,  although  the  traders  were 
then  well  supplied  with  wine,  and  that  of  the  best  kind, 
of  which  they  made  very  free  use.  It  was  then  thought 
that  a  clerk  in  charge  of  an  outfit  must  have  his  keg  of 
wine ;  but,  after  the  American  Fur  Company  got  fairly 
initiated  into  the  trade,  they  abolished  the  custom  of 
furnishing  their  clerks  with  this  luxury  at  the  expense 
of  the  outfit.  As  I  have  already  said,  the  Indian  trade 
of  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri  and  their  tributaries  was 
carried  on  from  Mackinaw  as  the  grand  depot  of  the 
trade  of  the  North-west. 

"  The  traders  and  their  clerks  were  then  the  aristo- 
cracy of  the  country ;  and,  to  a  Yankee  at  first  sight, 
presented  a  singular  state  of  society.     To  see  gentle- 

^  Wis.  His.  Soc.  Collections,  vol.  ii. 


VOYAGEURS'  FOOD,  DRESS,  SALARY.         295 

men  selecting  wives  of  the  nut^b^o\^^l  natives,  and 
raising  children  of  mixed  blood,  the  traders  and  clerks 
living  in  as  much  luxury  as  the  resources  of  the  country 
would  admit,  and  the  engagees  or  boatmen  living  upon 
soup  made  of  hulled  corn  with  barely  tallow  enough  to 
season  it,  devoid  of  salt,  unless  they  purchased  it  them- 
selves at  a  high  price — all  this  to  an  American  was  a 
novel  mode  of  living,  and  appeared  to  be  hard  fare ; 
but  to  a  person  acquainted  with  the  habits  of  life  of  the 
Canadian  peasantry,  it  would  not  look  so  much  out  of 
the  way,  as  they  live  mostly  on  pea  soup,  seasoned  with 
a  piece  of  pork  boiled  down  to  grease ;  seldom  eating 
pork  except  in  the  form  of  grease  that  seasons  their 
soup.  With  this  soup,  and  a  piece  of  coarse  bread, 
their  meals  were  made;  hence  the  change  from  pea 
soup  to  corn  is  not  so  great,  or  the  fare  much  worse 
than  that  which  they  had  been  accustomed  to,  as  the 
corn  is  more  substantial  than  peas,  not  being  so  flatu- 
lent. These  men  engaged  in  Canada  generally  for  five 
years  for  Mackinaw  and  its  dependencies,  transferable 
like  cattle  to  any  one  who  wanted  them,  at  generally 
about  five  hundred  livres  a  year,  or,  in  our  currency, 
about  eighty-three  dollars  and  thirty-three  cents ;  fur- 
nished with  a  yearly  equipment  or  outfit  of  two  cotton 
shirts,  one  three  point  or  triangular  blanket,  a  portage 
collar,  and  one  pair  of  beef  shoes ;  being  obliged,  in  the 
Indian  country,  to  purchase  their  moccasins,  tobacco, 
pipes,  and  other  necessaries,  at  the  price  the  trader  saw 
fit  to  charge  for  them.  Generally,  at  the  end  of  five 
years,  these  poor  voyageurs  were  in  debt  from  fifty  to 
one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  and  could  not  leave  the 
country  until  they  had  paid  their  indebtedness;  and  the 
policy  of  the  traders  Avas  to  keep  as  many  of  them  in 


296  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

the  country  as  they  could ;  and  to  this  end  they  allowed 
and  encouraged  their  engagees  to  get  in  debt  during  the 
five  years,  which  of  necessity  required  them  to  remain. 

"  These  new  hands  were  by  the  old  voyageurs  called 
in  derision,  mangeurs  de  lard — porltrcaters — as  on  leaving 
Montreal,  and  on  the  route  to  Mackinaw,  they  were  fed 
on  pork,  hard  bread,  and  pea  soup,  while  the  old  voya- 
geurs in  the  Indian  country  ate  corn  soup,  and  such 
other  food  as  could  conveniently  be  procured.^  These 
mangeurs  de  lard  were  brought  at  considerable  expense 
and  trouble  from  Montreal  and  other  parts  of  Canada, 
frequently  deserting  after  they  had  received  some  ad- 
vance in  money  and  their  equipment.  Hence  it  was 
the  object  of  the  traders  to  keej)  as  many  of  the  old 
voyageurs  in  the  country  as  they  could,  and  they  gene- 
rally permitted  the  mangeurs  de  lard  to  get  largely  in 
debt,  as  they  could  not  leave  the  country  and  get  back 
into  Canada,  except  by  the  return  boats  or  canoes  which 
brought  the  goods,  and  they  would  not  take  them  back 
if  they  were  in  debt  anywhere  in  the  country,  which 
could  be  easily  ascertained  from  the  traders  at  Macki- 
naw. But  if  a  man  was  prudent  enough  to  save  his 
wages,  he  could  obtain  passage,  as  he  was  no  longer 
wanted  in  the  country. 

"  The  engagements  of  the  men  at  Montreal  were  made 
in  the  strongest  language ;  they  bound  themselves  not 
to  leave  the  duties  assigTied  them  by  their  employers  or 
assigns  either  by  day  or  night,  under  the  penalty  of  for- 
feiting their  wages ;  to  take  charge  of,  and  safely  keep, 
the  property  put  into  their  trust,  and  to  give  notice  of 
any  portending  evil  against  their  employers,  or  their 

^  The  experienced  voyageurs   are     ing  to  Snelling's  -nork  on  the  North- 
called  hivernans  or  ivinierers,  accord-    -west. 


CHARACTER  OF  EARLY  TRADERS.  297 

interests,  that  should  come  to  their  knowledge.  It  was 
the  practice  of  the  traders,  when  anything  was  stolen 
from  the  goods  during  the  voyage,  whether  on  the  boat 
or  on  shore,  to  charge  the  boat's  crew  with  a  good  round 
price  for  it ;  and,  if  an^'thing  not  indispensable  was  ac- 
cidentally left  on  shore  at  the  encampment,  they  did 
not  return  for  it,  but  charged  it  to  the  crew,  as  it  was 
understood  to  be  their  duty,  not  the  employer's,  to  see 
that  everything  was  on  board  the  boat.  These  people 
in  the  Indian  country  became  inured  to  great  hardships 
and  privations,  and  prided  themselves  upon  the  distance 
they  could  travel  per  da}^,  and  the  small  quantity  of  pro- 
visions they  could  subsist  on  while  travelling,  and  the 
number  of  days  they  could  go  without  food.  They  are 
very  easily  governed  by  a  person  who  understands 
something  of  their  nature  and  disposition,  but  their 
burgeois  or  employer  must  be  what  they  consider  a 
gentleman,  or  superior  to  themselves,  as  they  never  feel 
much  respect  for  a  man  who  has,  from  an  engagee,  risen 
to  the  rank  of  a  clerk. 

"  The  traders  in  this  country,  at  the  time  I  came  into 
it,  were  a  singular  compound ;  they  were  honest  so  far 
as  they  gave  their  word  of  honour  to  be  relied  upon ; 
and,  in  their  business  transactions  between  themselves, 
seldom  gave  or  took  notes  for  balances  or  assumptions. 
It  rarel}'  happened  that  one  of  them  was  found  who 
did  not  fulfil  his  promises ;  but  when  trading  in  the  In- 
dian country,  any  advantage  that  could  be  taken  of 
each  other  in  a  transaction  was  not  only  considered 
lawful — such  as  trading  each  other's  credit — but  an  in- 
dication of  tact  and  cleverness  in  business.  Two  traders 
ha\'ing  spent  the  winter  in  the  same  neighbourhood, 
and  tluis   taken  everv  advantajre  thev  could  of  each 


298  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

other,  would  meet  in  the  spring  at  Prairie  du  Chien, 
and  amicably  settle  all  difficulties  over  a  glass  of  wine." 

After  the  war  -with  Great  Britain,  enterprise  made  a 
few  attempts  to  develope  the  resources  of  the  Upper 
Mississippi.  In  1818  the  first  grist-mill  was  built  at 
Fisher's  Coulee,  four  miles  above  Prairie  du  Chien. 
The  next  year  the  first  saw-mill  in  the  country  was 
erected  at  the  Falls  of  Black  river,  which  was  soon 
burned  by  the  Indians. 

While  the  Ojibways  and  Dahkotahs  now  acknow- 
ledged the  authority  of  the  United  States,  they  still 
continued  their  destructive  warfare  upon  each  other. 
Toward  the  close  of  the  year  1818  one  of  their  terrible 
conflicts  took  place,  between  Lac  Traverse  and  the  head 
waters  of  the  Mississippi.  During  the  summer  a  Yank- 
ton chief,  called  by  the  French  the  Grand,  held  a  coun- 
cil with  some  Ojibways,  and  smoked  the  pipe  of  peace. 
When  the  latter  were  returning  home,  some  of  the 
Dahkotahs  sneaked  after  them,  scalped  a  few,  and  took 
a  woman  prisoner. 

When  the  receipt  of  the  intelligence  reached  Leech 
Lake,  thirteen  young  warriors,  whose  leader  was  Black 
Dog,  started  for  the  Dahkotah  land,  having  vowed  that 
they  would  not  return  until  they  had  avenged  the 
insult.  For  four  weeks  they  travelled  without  meeting 
any  of  their  foes;  but  at  length,  on  the  Pomme  de  Terre 
river,  on  a  very  foggy  morning,  they  thought  a  buffalo 
herd  was  in  sight,  which  proved  to  be  a  large  Dahkotah 
camp.  Some  of  the  latter,  who  were  on  horseback,  saw 
them,  and  gave  the  alarm.  The  Ojibways,  finding  that 
they  were  discovered,  and  that  their  enemies  were  nume- 
rous, sent  one  of  their  number  to  their  homes  east  of 
the  Mississippi,  to  announce  their  probable  death.    The 


SPARTAN  BRAVERY.  299 

twelve  who  remained  now  began  to  dig  holes  in  the 
ground,  and  prepare  for  the  conflict,  from  which  they 
could  not  hope  to  escape. 

Soon  they  were  surrounded  by  the  Dahkotahs ;  but 
as  they  drew  nigh  many  were  mortally  wounded  by 
the  Spartan  band.  The  leader  of  the  Dahkotah  party, 
exasperated  by  their  continual  loss,  gave  orders  for  a 
general  onset,  when  the  whole  Ojibway  party  were 
tomahawked  in  their  holes.  The  thirteenth  returned 
home,  and  related  the  circumstances;  and  though  their 
friends  mourned  their  death,  they  delighted  in  then* 
bravery. 


300  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


CHAPTER   X  /. 

While  citizens  of  the  United  States  and  Great  Bri- 
tain, speaking  the  same  language,  and  having  many 
common  associations,  were  engaged  in  war  near  the 
southern  Umits  of  Minnesota,  a  disgraceful  strife  was 
beginning  between  the  employees  of  the  Hudson  Bay 
and  North-west  Companies,  on  the  northern  border. 

The  channel  of  trade,  west  of  Lake  Superior,  followed 
the  line  of  the  Algonquin  settlements,  and  entered  the 
interior  chiefly  by  way  of  Pigeon  river,  and  the  chain 
of  lakes  that  separates  the  British  possessions  from 
Minnesota. 

Veranderie,  the  French  officer,  as  we  have  seen  in  a 
previous  chapter,  was  the  first  that  pushed  his  way  to- 
ward the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  is  said  to  have  built  a 
fort  at  the  junction  of  the  Assineboine  and  Red  River. 
As  soon  as  1762  maps  designate  Fort  la  Reine  at  the 
confluence,  and  here  at  an  early  period  coureurs  des  bois, 
from  the  French  establishment  at  Mackinaw,  used  to 
trade  with  the  Omahaws  and  Assineboines.  On  the  east 
side  of  Lake  Winnipeg,  before  the  cession  of  Canada 
to  the  English,  there  was  a  French  post  called  Mau  re- 
pas.  On  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  there  was  Fort  St. 
Charles,  and  in  the  lake  was  an  island,  near  the  south- 


Id 


Si 


^?5 


Mt' 


ft/uu*^'- 


Ojf, 


FSDiLtJi^J^UL  MJ 


MASSACRE  IN  LAKE  OF  THE  WOODS.  301 

eastern  extremity,  called  Massacre  Island,  from  tlie  fol- 
lowing circumstance : — 

About  the  year  1750,  a  birch  canoe  with  eight  French- 
men, left  the  post  on  the  shores  of  the  Lake  of  the 
Woods,  and  had  proceeded  to  this  island,  which  is  not 
far  from  the  mouth  of  the  river  which  leads  to  Rainy 
Lake.  It  was  quite  early  when  they  arrived,  and  there 
was  not  a  breeze  perceptible.  Kindling  a  fire  to  cook 
their  repast,  the  smoke  rose  like  a  lofty  column,  and 
attracted  a  war  party  of  the  Dahkotahs,  who,  landing 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  isle,  surprised  the  French 
and  massacred  them.  At  the  junction  of  Rainy  Lake 
river  with  the  lake,  there  was  Fort  St.  Pierre,  and  at 
the  grand  portage  of  Lake  Superior  there  was  the  trad- 
ing establishment  of  Kamanistigoya.  This  region  of 
country  was  claimed  by  the  Hudson  Bay  Company, 
under  a  charter  granted  to  them  by  Charles  II.  on  May 
second,  1670;  but  during  the  eighteenth  century  they 
did  not  establish  posts  in  the  region  bordering  on  Min- 
nesota. 

Before  the  American  Revolution,  private  traders,  who 
obtained  their  outfits  at  Mackinaw,  gained  possession 
of  the  trade,  and,  after  the  consolidation  of  several  com- 
panies with  the  North-west  Company  of  Montreal  in 
1783,  there  was  a  larger  business  transacted  with  the 
Indians  who  lived  in  this  region  so  abundant  in  furs. 
At  the  commencement  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the 
Earl  of  Selkirk,  a  wealthy,  kind-hearted,  but  visionary 
nobleman  of  Scotland,  wrote  several  tracts,  urging  the 
importance  of  colonizing  British  emigrants  in  these  dis- 
tant British  possessions,  and  thus  check  the  disposition 
to  settle  in  the  United  States.     In  the  year  1811,  he 


302  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

obtained  a  grant  of  land  from  the  Hudson  Bay  Com- 
pany, described  as  follows  : — 

"  Beginning  on  the  western  shore  of  Lake  Winipie, 
at  a  point  in  52°  30'  north  latitude,  and  thence  running 
due  west  to  the  Lake  Winipigashish,  otherwise  called 
Little  Winipie,  thence  in  a  southerly  direction,  through 
the  said  lake,  so  as  to  strike  its  western  shore  in  lati- 
tude 52°,  thence  due  west  to  the  place  where  the  par- 
allel 52°  intersects  the  western  branch  of  Red  river, 
otherwise  called  Assiniboine  river,  thence  due  south 
from  that  point  of  intersection,  to  the  height  of  land 
which  separates  the  waters  running  into  Hudson's  Bay 
from  those  of  the  Missouri  and  Missisippi  rivers,  thence 
in  an  easterly  direction  along  the  height  of  land  to  the 
source  of  the  river  Winipie,  meaning  by  such  last-named 
river  the  principal  branch  of  the  waters  which  unite  in 
the  Lake  Saginagas,  thence  along  the  main  stream  of 
those  waters,  and  the  middle  of  the  several  lakes 
through  which  they  pass,  to  the  mouth  of  the  Winipie 
river,  and  thence  in  a  northerly  direction  through  the 
middle  of  Lake  Winipie,  to  the  place  of  beginning, 
which  territory  is  called  Ossiniboia"  or  Assiniboia. 

Previous  to  this  time  the  only  inhabitants  besides  the 
Indians,  were  Canadians,  who,  by  long  intercourse  with 
savages,  had  learned  all  their  vices,  and  imitated  none 
of  their  admirable  traits.  Unwilling  to  return  to  the 
restraints  of  well-ordered  society,  from  which  they  had 
fled  in  youth,  they  were  fond  of 


"  Vast 
And  sudden  deeds  of  violence, 
Adventures  wild,  and  wonders  of  the  moment. 


SUFFERINGS  OF  HIGHLANDERS.  303 

They  were  proud  of  the  title  "  Gens  Libres/'  the  free 
people. 

The  offspring  of  their  intercourse  with  Indian  females 
was  numerous.  The  "bois  brules"  were  athletic,  ex- 
pert hunters,  good  boatmen,  fine  horsemen,  and  able  to 
speak  the  native  language  of  both  father  and  mother. 
Their  chief  delight  and  mode  of  subsistence  was  in 
fishing  and  snaring  the  buffalo. 

In  the  autumn  of  1812,  a  small  advance  party  of 
colonists  proceeded  to  a  point  in  latitude  50°  north  near 
the  confluence  of  the  Assineboine,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Red  river,  whose  head  waters  after  heavy  rains  inter- 
lock with  those  of  the  Minnesota  river,  and  commenced 
the  erection  of  houses  and  preparations  for  the  expected 
colonists.  But  their  work  was  soon  stopped  b}'  a  party 
of  men  of  the  North-west  Company,  attired  in  Indian 
costume,  ordering  them  to  desist.  The  affrighted  emi- 
grants were  persuaded  to  take  refuge  at  Pembina,  Min- 
nesota, by  a  company  of  men  that  they  thought  were 
savages.  The  latter  agreed  to  carry  the  children,  but 
the  men  and  women  were  obliged  to  walk.  The  exac- 
tions of  the  guides  were  cruel.  One  Highlander  had  to 
relinquish  a  gun  that  had  been  carried  by  his  father  at 
the  battle  of  Culloden,  and  which  was  prized  next  to 
the  family  Bible,  and  a  shrinking  woman  had  to  part 
with  the  marriage  ring  which  had  been  placed  upon  her 
finger  in  the  bloom  of  her  youth,  by  a  devoted  lover  in 
the  Highlands.  For  the  sake  of  creating  alarm,  the 
guides  would  run  off  with  the  babes  and  children,  and 
the  distracted  mothers  refused  to  be  comforted,  because 
their  children  were  not  to  be  seen  any  more,  as  they 
supposed.^ 

^  "  Red  River  Settlement,  by  Alexander  Ross.    London,  1856." 


304  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

This  sport,  more  worthy  of  bears  than  of  men,  so 
shocked  the  nervous  system  of  the  more  dehcate  that 
they  never  recovered,  and  found  an  early  and  cold 
grave. 

At  Pembina  the  more  hardy  lived  during  the  winter 
in  tents,  and  in  the  spring  returned  to  the  colony  to 
resume  their  labours. 

Returning  in  the  spring  to  the  site  of  the  colony,  they 
in  the  sweat  of  their  brow  cultivated  the  soil,  but  the 
fowls  of  the  air  anticipated  the  harvest,  and  the  winter 
of  1813-14  was  again  passed  at  Pembina.^ 

Their  success  in  the  chase  was  however  limited,  and 
when  they  returned  to  their  settlement  in  the  spring 
they  were  in  appearance  half  starved,  and  all  tattered 
and  torn. 

By  the  month  of  September,  1815,  the  number  of 
settlers  was  about  two  hundred,  and  the  colony  was 
called  Kildonan,  after  the  old  parish  in  Scotland  in 
which  many  were  born.  With  increased  numbers  all 
things  seemed  auspicious.  Houses  were  built,  a  mill 
was  erected,  imported  cattle  and  sheep  began  to  graze 
on  the  undulating  plains.  The  Highlander  was  pleased 
when  he  discovered  that 

"  Here  no  stony  ground  provokes  the  wrath  of  the  farmer. 
Smoothly  the  ploughshare  runs  through  the  soil,  as  a  keel  through  the 

•water. 
Here,  too,  numberless  herds  run  wild,  and  unclaimed  in  the  prairies ; 
Here,  too,  lands  may  be  had  for  the  asking,  and  forests  of  timber 
With  a  few  blows  of  the  axe,  are  hewn  and  framed  into  houses." 


^  This  word  is  pronounced  as  if    name  of  a  red  berry  that  grows  in 
written  Pembinuaw,  and  is  a  con-    the  vicinity, 
traction   of  an   Ojibway  word,  the 


CAMERON  PRODUCES  DISCONTENT.  305 

The  employees  of  the  North-west  Company  were 
however  exceedingly  restive  under  the  march  of  im- 
provement, and  the  proprietors  of  the  company  sus- 
pected that  it  was  a  ruse  of  their  powerful  rival,  the 
Hudson  Bay  Company,  to  oust  them  from  the  lucrative 
posts  they  were  occupying. 

As  early  as  1813  the  clerks  and  engagees  of  the  Mon- 
treal traders  endeavoured  to  excite  the  suspicions  of  the 
Indians,  but  without  success. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  partners  of  the  North-west 
Company,  held  at  Fort  William,  at  the  head  of  Lake 
Superior,  in  the  summer  of  1814,  Duncan  Cameron  and 
Alexander  McDonell  were  appointed  to  concert  mea- 
sures to  stop  the  progTcss  of  the  colony.^ 

About  the  last  of  August,  they  arrived  at  the  North- 
west Company's  post,  about  a  half  mile  from  the  Kil- 
donan  settlement,  at  the  forks  of  the  Red  and  Assine- 
boine  rivers. 

Cameron,  during  the  winter  and  spring  of  1815,  with 
great  art  obtained  the  confidence  of  the  Highlanders. 
Pie  spoke  their  native  Gaelic  tongue,  extended  hospi- 
tality to  their  families,  and  insinuated  rather  than 
evinced  direct  hostility  to  the  plans  of  Selkirk.  To 
give  the  air  of  authority,  he  wore  a  suit  of  regimentals 
that  belonged  to  a  disbanded  corps  of  voyageurs,  and  in 
his  communications,  subscribed  himself  "  D.  Cameron, 
Captain   Voyageur    Corps,   Commanding   Officer,    Red 

*  Alexander  McDonell,  in  a  letter  ties  against  the  enemy  in  Red  river.  * 

written  to  a  friend  at  Montreal,  from  *  *  *  *  Nothing  but  the  complete 

one  of  the  portages  west  of  Lake  downfall  of  the  colony  will  satisfy 

Superior,  says,  "  You  see  myself  and  some  by  fair  or  foul  means.     So  here 

our  mutual  friend  Mr.  Cameron,  so  is  at  them  with  all   my  heart  and 

far  on  our  way  to  commence  hostili-  energy." 
20 


306  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

River."  The  fair  promises  he  made  unsettled  the  minds 
of  the  colonists,  and  seduced  many  to  leave  the  spot. 
As  soon  as  the  free  Canadians  and  half-breeds  learned 
that  their  employers  were  not  favourable  to  the  colony, 
they  grew  insolent.  One  of  the  disaffected  Selkirkers, 
by  the  name  of  George  Campbell,  one  Sunday,  immedi- 
ately after  a  sermon  had  been  read  in  accordance  with 
a  venerable  Scotch  custom^  to  the  assembled  settlement, 
rose  and  read  an  order  issued  by  Cameron,  and  directed 
to  the  temporary  superintendent  of  the  colony,  demand- 
ing the  surrender  of  their  brass  field-pieces. 

On  Monday  morning,  the  governor's  house  being 
guarded,  the  employees  of  the  North-west  Company 
went  to  the  store-house,  broke  it  open,  and  carried  off 
to  their  post,  field-pieces,  swivel,  and  a  small  howitzer; 
in  all  amounting  to  nine.  This  was  a  signal  for  the 
desertion  of  the  disaffected  Selkirkers,  who  repaired  to 
the  quarters  of  the  North-west  Company. 

In  the  spring  of  1815,  McKenzie  and  Morrison,  of 
the  North-west  Company  at  Sandy  Lake,  Minnesota,  told 
the  chief  Kawtawabetay,  that  they  would  give  him  and 
his  people  all  the  goods  or  merchandise  and  rum  they 

'  The  first  emigrants  were  all  the  governor-in-chief  of  the  country, 
Presbyterians.  Their  expected  min-  as  well  as  by  the  governor  of  the 
ister  having  been  delayed,  a  worthy  colony.  These  men  with  their  fol- 
and  pious  elder,  James  Sutherland,  lowers  gladly  heard  him  expound 
"was  appointed  to  marry  and  bap-  the  Scriptures.  *  *  *  *  Of  all  men, 
tize,  from  which  functions  he  was  clergymen  or  others,  that  ever  en- 
never  released  by  the  arrival  of  the  tered  this  country,  none  stood  higher 
(jrdained  minister,  in  consequence  in  the  estimation  of  the  settlers,  both 
(jf  the  difiBculties  in  which  the  colony  for  sterling  piety,  and  Christian  con- 
was  placed.  *  *  *  On  his  arrival  duct,  than  Mr.  Sutherland." — Red 
at  York  Factory,  the  right  hand  of  River  Settlement,  p.  31. 
fellowship  was  held  out  to  him  by 


THE  MARCH  OF  THE  EXILES.  307 

had  at  Leech  Lake,  Sandy  Lake,  and  Fort  William,  if 
they  would  declare  war  against  the  settlers  on  Red 
river.' 

On  the  morning  of  Sunday,  June  the  eleventh,  a  party 
of  North-west  employees,  armed  with  loaded  muskets, 
stationed  themselves  in  a  grove  near  the  governor's 
house,  and  commenced  an  attack,  wounding  four  in- 
mates, one  of  whom  died.  After  this  unprovoked 
assault,  they  demanded  Miles  McDonell,  the  governor, 
who  was  delivered,  and  subsequently  carried  to  Mon- 
treal. This  step  did  not  at  all  satisfy  the  traders  of 
the  North-west  Company,  but  as  soon  as  the  governor 
was  carried  off  toward  Canada  by  Duncan  Cameron,  his 
partner,  Alexander  McDonell,  commenced  new  aggres- 
sions, such  as  seizing  the  horses,  driving  off  the  cattle, 
and  pillaging  the  farms  of  the  colonists.  Opposite  the 
settlement  he  erected  a  battery,  upon  which  he  mounted 
two  of  the  Selkirk  field-pieces,  and  established  a  camp 
of  about  fifty  or  sixty  of  the  Canadian  servants,  clerks, 
and  bois  brules. 

Dispirited  by  constant  annoyance,  the  broken-hearted 
settlers  sent  word  to  the  head  of  the  North-west  Com- 
pany, that  they  would  leave  their  farms  and  homes  in 
a  few  days.  About  this  time,  toward  the  latter  part  of 
the  pleasant  month  of  June,  two  Ojibway  chiefs  arrived 
with  forty  braves,  and  strange  as  it  may  seem,  they 
offered  to  escort  the  persecuted  colonists  with  their  pro- 
perty to  Lake  Winnipeg.  Guarded  by  the  grim  children 
of  the  forest  from  the  assault  of  their  foes,  they,  like 
the  Acadian  peasants  in  Evangeline,  were  "  friendless, 
hopeless,  homeless." 

'  Earl  of  Selkirk's  statement. 


308  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

"  Driving  in  ponderous  wains,  their  household  goods  to  the  sea-shore, 
Pausing,  and  looking  back  to  gaze  once  more  on  their  dwellings, 
Ere  they  were  shut  from  sight,  by  the  winding  road,  and  the  woodland ; 
Close  at  their  sides,  their  children  ran,  and  urged  on  the  oxen. 
While  in  their  little  hands  they  clasped  some  fragments  of  playthings." 

After  they  had  embarked  in  the  boats,  "sheeted 
smoke  with  flashes  of  flame  intermingled,"  announced 
that  the  mill  and  their  houses  were  fired  by  the  torch 
of  the  incendiary. 

When  the  fugitives  from  persecution  had  been  some- 
time at  the  northern  extremity  of  Lake  Winnipeg, 
Colin  Robertson,  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company,  arrived, 
and  offered  to  lead  them  back  to  the  settlement  from 
which  they  had  been  expelled.  Accepting  his  proposal, 
they  returned,  and  were  soon  augmented  by  a  party  of 
emigrants  just  arrived  from  the  Highlands  of  Scotland. 
During  the  winter  of  1810,  a  majority  remained  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Pembina  river,  in  Minnesota,  for  the 
purpose  of  hunting  the  buffalo.  But  early  in  the  spring 
they  returned  to  the  Kildonan  settlement. 

In  the  spring  of  1816,  Duncan  Cameron,  who  had 
returned,  was  arrested  by  Colin  Robertson,  and  taken 
towards  the  coast  of  Hudson's  Bay,  for  the  purpose  of 
being  sent  to  England  for  trial. 

The  Earl  of  Selkirk,  hearing  of  the  distressed  condi- 
tion of  his  colony,  mailed  for  America,  and  on  his  arrival 
at  New  York,  in  the  fall  of  1815,  heard  that  they  had 
been  bribed  or  compelled  to  leave  the  settlement. 

Proceeding  to  Montreal,  he  found  some  of  the  settlers 
who  had  been  under  the  influence  of  the  North-west 
Company,  in  great  poverty.  While  here  he  gained  the 
information  that  a  remnant  of  the  colony  had  returned 
and  re-established  themselves,  and  immediately  sent  an 
express  to  announce  his  arrival  and  determination  to  be 


SELKIRK  SENDS  AN  ARMED  FORCE.  309 

with  them  in  the  spring.  These  glad  tidings  were  sent 
bj  Laguimoniere,  who,  in  the  depths  of  winter,  had  tra- 
velled on  foot  from  the  Red  River,  by  way  of  Red  Lake 
and  Fond  du  Lac,  Minnesota,  to  bring  the  intelligence  to 
Montreal  that  the  colony  had  reoccupied  their  settlement. 

The  messenger  never  reached  his  destination  Avith  the 
kind  words  of  Selkirk.  In  the  night  he  was  way-laid 
near  Fond  du  Lac,  brutally  beaten,  and  robbed  of  his 
canoe  and  despatches.  At  a  council  held  by  the  super- 
intendent of  Indian  aifairs,  at  Drununond's  Island,  on 
the  twenty-second  of  July,  181G,  an  Ojibway  chief 
of  Sandy  Lake,  Minnesota,  stated  that  Grant,  one  of 
the  North-west  Company,  offered  him  two  kegs  of  rum, 
and  two  carrots  of  tobacco,  if  he  Avould  send  some  of  his 
young  men  in  search  of  some  persons  taking  despatches 
to  Red  River,  and  pillage  the  letters  and  papers. 
Shortly  after  this,  the  chief  testified  that  Laguimoniere 
was  brought  in  by  a  negro  and  a  party  of  Ottawas. 

Failing  to  obtain  military  aid  from  the  British  autho- 
rities in  Canada,  Selkirk  made  an  engagement  with  four 
officers  and  eighty  privates,  of  the  discharged  Meuron 
regiment,  twenty  of  the  De  Watteville,  and  a  few  of 
the  Glengary  Fencibles,  which  had  served  in  the  late 
war  with  the  United  States,  to  accompany  him  to  Red 
River.  They  were  to  receive  monthly  wages  for  navi- 
gating the  boats  to  Red  River,  to  have  lands  assigned 
them,  and  a  free  passage  if  they  wished  to  return. 

When  he  reached  Sault  St.  Marie,  he  received  the 
intelligence  that  the  colony  had  again  been  destroyed. 

In  the  spring  of  1816,  Semple,  a  mild,  amiable,  but 
not  altogether  judicious  man,  the  chief  governor  of  the 
factories  and  territories  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company, 
arrived  at  Red  River.     In  the  month  of  April  he  sent 


310  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

a  Mr,  Pambrun  to  a  trading  post  on  a  neighbouring 
river,  and  as  he  was  returning  with  five  boats,  a  quan- 
tity of  furs,  and  six  hundred  bags  of  pemmican,  he 
was  attacked,  on  the  twelfth  of  May,  by  an  armed  party 
of  the  adherents  of  the  North-west  Company,  and  cap- 
tured. This  act  was  m  retaUation  for  the  attack  made 
by  Robertson  on  their  post,  at  the  junction  of  the  Red 
and  Assineboine  rivers,  during  the  previous  autumn. 
On  the  eighteenth  of  June  a  portion  of  this  party  left 
Fort  Qui  Appele,  under  the  guidance  of  Cuthbert  Grant, 
Lacerte,  Frazer,  Hoole,  and  Thomas  McKay,  and  went 
toward  Red  River.  Information  had  been  brought  by 
friendly  Indians  and  others,  that  an  attack  was  intended, 
and  an  almost  constant  watch  was  kept  up  night  and 
day,  to  discover  the  approach  of  any  of  the  parties  of 
the  enemy.  About  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  on  the 
nineteenth  of  June,  a  man  in  the  watch-house  of  the 
fort  of  the  Selkirkers,  called  out  to  Governor  Semple 
that  horsemen  were  approaching.  The  governor,  per- 
ceiving with  a  spy-glass  sixty  or  seventy  men,  ordered 
twenty  men  to  accompany  him,  and  meet  them.  After 
Semple  had  proceeded  half  a  mile,  some  of  the  settlers 
were  met  moving  toward  the  fort,  saying  that  a  party 
was  coming  with  cannon.  One  of  the  governor's  party 
was  requested  to  go  back  and  obtain  a  field-piece  from 
the  fort.  As  the  messenger  was  returning  with  the 
cannon.  Governor  Semple  was  surrounded.  The  hostile 
party  first  sent  forward  the  reckless  son  of  a  Montreal 
tavern-keef)er,  to  inquire  what  the  governor  was  about. 
Semple  inquired  what  his  party  wanted?  Boucher 
insultingly  asked,  "  Why  did  you,  rascal !  destroy  our 
fort?"  The  governor,  laying  hold  of  his  horse's  bridle, 
said,  "  Scoundrel !  do  you  talk  thus  to  me  ?"     Instantly 


GOVERNOR  SEMPLE  KILLED.  311 

Boucher  sprang  from  his  horse,  and  the  firing  com- 
menced. Semple  was  soon  wounded,  and  called  to  his 
men  to  take  care  of  themselves ;  but  they  gathered  in 
a  knot  around  their  bleeding  leader,  and  while  they 
collected,  the  North-west  party  fired  a  volley,  by  which 
the  greater  part  were  instantly  killed.  The  remnant 
called  for  mercy,  but  in  vain;  all  were  massacred  but 
four  or  five.  Among  those  who  were  spared,  was  John 
Pritchard.  Li  his  narration  he  remarks,  that  "the 
knife,  axe,  or  ball  put  an  end  to  the  existence  of  the 
wounded,  and  on  the  bodies  of  the  dead  were  practised 
all  those  horrible  barbarities,  which  characterize  the  in- 
human heart  of  the  savage.  The  amiable  and  mild  Mr. 
Semple,  with  broken  thigh,  lying  on  his  side,  supporting 
his  head  upon  his  hand,  said  to  Grant,  the  leader  of  the 
attacking  party,  '  I  am  not  mortally  wounded,  and  if 
you  could  get  me  conveyed  to  the  fort,  I  think  I  should 
live.'  Grant  promised  he  would  do  so,  and  immediately 
left  him  in  the  care  of  a  Canadian,  who  afterwards  told, 
that  an  Indian  of  their  party  came  up  and  shot  Mr.  Sem- 
ple in  the  breast.  I  entreated  Grant  to  procure  me  the 
watch  or  even  the  seals  of  Mr.  Semple,  for  transmitting 
them  to  his  friends,  but  I  did  not  succeed.  Our  force 
amounted  to  twenty-eight  persons,  of  whom  twenty-one 
were  killed." 

The  Indian  who  killed  the  kind-hearted  Semple  was 
an  Ojibway  of  Minnesota.  Schoolcraft,  in  1832,  says, 
he  saw,  at  Leech  Lake,  Majegabowi,  the  man  who  had 
killed  Governor  Semple,  after  he  fell  wounded  from  his 
horse. 

The  morning  after  the  massacre.  Grant  and  Bourassa, 
with  sixteen  or  seventeen  others,  insisted  upon  the 
abandonment   of    Fort   Douglas,   and   the   settlement. 


312  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

Two  days  afterwards  the  settlers,  to  the  number  of  two 
hundred,  including  women  and  children,  were  compelled 
to  embark  in  boats,  to  be  conveyed  to  the  searcoast. 
On  the  second  day's  voyage  they  were  met  by  Noi:man 
McLeod,  a  partner  of  the  North-west  Company,  with 
nine  or  ten  canoes,  and  a  batteau  with  two  pieces  of 
artillery,  formerly  belonging  to  the  Selkirk  settlement, 
and  a  hundred  armed  men.  As  his  party  perceived  the 
settlers  they  raised  the  warwhoop,  and  McLeod  inquired 
whether  Robertson  or  Semple  was  in  the  boats.  In- 
formed of  the  death  of  the  governor,  they  broke  open 
his  trunks,  and  took  his  papers. 

On  his  way  to  Red  River,  McLeod  held  a  council 
with  the  Ojibways  at  Rainy  Lake,  and  persuaded  the 
Round  Lake  Chief  and  some  fifteen  or  twenty  others 
to  join  his  party.  Among  those  who  accompanied  Mc- 
Leod in  the  capacity  of  clerk  was  Charles  de  Reinhard, 
once  a  sergeant  in  the  De  Meuron  regiment.  He  was 
sent  to  a  station  of  the  company,  at  "  Bas  de  la  riviere 
Winipic."  In  August  some  deserters  from  the  employ 
of  Owen  Keveny,  a  Hudson  Bay  trader,  arrived  there. 
They  told  McLeod  that  they  had  been  badly  treated, 
and  he  deputed  Reinhard  to  act  as  constable  and  seize 
seize  Keveny. 

Six  bois  brules  accompanied  him,  and  he  soon  re- 
turned with  the  trader,  who  was  then  placed  in  a  canoe 
with  three  half-breed  voyageurs,  and  consigned  to  Fort 
William  on  Lake  Superior.  On  their  way  they  were 
met  by  a  partner  of  the  North-west  Company,  avIio  re- 
moved the  half-breeds  and  substituted  two  Canadians 
and  an  Indian,  who  was  to  act  as  guide.  The  canoe 
was  again  met  by  traders  of  the  company,  who  ordered 
them  back.     The  two  Canadians,  on  their  return,  quar- 


THE  MURDER  OF  KEYENY.  313 

reled  with  the  Indian  who  left  them,  and  losing  their 
way,  they  landed  Keveny  on  a  small  island  and  de- 
serted him. 

Mr.  McLellan  now  started  in  search  of  the  missing 
party,  and  first  found  the  Indian  and  two  Canadians, 
and  at  last  Keveny,  who  was  with  an  encampment  of 
Indians.  McLellan  apprehended  him,  and  purchasing 
a  canoe  placed  him  alone  in  company  with  Reinhard,  a 
bois  brule,  and  an  Indian.  He  then  told  Reinhard  to 
put  Keveny  to  death  at  the  first  favourable  spot.  A 
short  distance  above  a  deep  gorge  of  granite  through 
which  the  Winnipeg  river  rushes,  the  traveller  used 
to  pass  a  cross,  which  marked  the  spot  where  Keveny's 
life  was  taken. 

It  seems,  from  the  confession  of  Reinhard,  that  he 
had  desired  to  go  on  shore  for  a  few  moments,  and 
when  he  was  returning  to  the  canoe,  the  half-breed  took 
aim  and  shot  him  through  the  neck.  As  he  fell  against 
the  canoe,  Reinhard,  seeing  that  he  wished  to  speak, 
drew  his  sword,  and  twice  plunging  it  in  his  back,  soon 
rendered  him  speechless. 

Joining  their  employer  McLellan,  they  detailed  the 
circumstances,  and  a  distribution  of  his  bloody  clothes 
and  other  efiects  took  place.  McLellan,  opening  the 
writing  desk  of  the  murdered  man,  spent  the  night  in 
reading  and  burning  his  letters  and  jDapers.  Reinhard, 
after  a  protracted  trial  in  Canada,  was  convicted  and 
executed.  During  the  trial  stress  was  laid  upon  the 
question,  whether  the  scene  of  the  murder  was  in  the 
province  of  Upper  Canada.  After  much  testimony  from 
the  best  geographers  in  the  country,  it  was  decided  that 
the  limits  of  Canada  did  not  extend  to  that  point. 

Previous  to  the  intelligence  of  the  death  of  Governor 


314  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

Semple,  the  Earl  of  Selkirk  had  made  arrangements  to 
visit  his  colony  by  way  of  Fond  du  Lac,  the  St.  Louis 
river,  and  Red  Lake  of  Minnesota ;  but  he  now  changed 
his  mind,  and  proceeded  with  his  force  to  Fort  William, 
the  chief  trading  post  of  the  North-west  Company  on 
Lake  Superior;  and  apprehending  the  principal  part- 
ners, warrants  of  commitment  were  issued,  and  they 
were  forwarded  to  the  attorney-general  of  Upper  Ca- 
nada. 

While  Selkirk  was  engaged  at  Fort  William,  a  party 
of  emigrants  in  charge  of  Miles  McDonnel,  governor, 
and  Captain  D'Orsomen,  went  forward  to  reinforce  the 
colony.  At  Rainy  Lake  they  obtained  the  guidance  of 
a  man  who  had  all  the  characteristics  of  an  Lidian,  and 
yet  had  a  bearing  which  suggested  a  different  origin. 
By  his  efficiency  and  temperate  habits,  he  secured  the 
respect  of  liis  employers,  and  on  the  Earl  of  Selkirk's 
arrival  at  Red  river,  his  attention  was  called  to  him, 
and  in  his  welfare  he  became  deeply  interested.  By 
repeated  conversations  with  him,  memories  of  a  differ- 
ent kind  of  existence  were  aroused,  and  the  light  of 
other  days  began  to  brighten.  Though  he  had  forgot- 
ten his  father's  name,  he  furnished  sufficient  data  for 
Selkirk  to  proceed  with  a  search  for  his  relatives. 
Visiting  the  United  States  in  1817,  he  published  a  cir- 
cular in  the  papers  of  the  Western  States,  which  led  to 
the  identification  of  the  man. 

It  appeared  from  his  own  statement,  and  those  of  his 
friends,  that  his  name  was  John  Tanner,  the  son  of  a 
minister  of  the  gospel,  who,  about  the  year  1790,  lived 
on  the  Ohio  river,  near  the  Miami.  Shortly  after  his 
residence  there  a  band  of  roving  Indians  passed  near 
the  house,  and  found  John  Tanner,  then  a  little  boy, 


JOHN  TANNER  CARRIED  OFF  BY  INDIANS.  315 

filling  his  hat  with  walnuts  which  he  had  picked  from 
a  tree.  Seizing  him,  the}'  kept  him  quiet  by  threats, 
and  fled.  The  party  was  led  by  an  Ottawa  Indian, 
whose  wife  had  lost  a  son.  To  compensate  for  his 
death,  the  mother  begged  her  husband  to  capture  one 
about  the  same  age.  To  accomplish  this  was  the  object 
of  the  Indian's  visit  to  the  white  settlements,  and  great 
was  the  joy  of  the  wife,  when  he  brought  her  the  desired 
gift.  Adopted  into  the  tribe.  Tanner  grew  up  as  an 
Indian,  and  became  expert  with  the  gun,  and  noted  for 
bravery.  In  time  the  band  with  which  he  was  con- 
nected wandered  into  the  Red  River  country.  Declin- 
ing the  position  of  chief  which  was  offered  to  him,  he 
was  esteemed  by  all  of  his  companions.  After  Lord  Sel- 
kirk found  his  relatives  he  visited  them,  but  soon 
returned  to  the  Indian  country. 

Xhe  harvest  of  1817  was  luxuriant ;  the  seed  that  had 
been  sown  proved  good  seed,  bearing  forty  and  sixty  fold, 
but  so  little  had  been  sown  that  it  agam  became  neces- 
sary for  the  settlers  to  pass  the  winter  in  hunting. 

From  Pembina  they  proceeded  into  the  open  prairies 
of  North-western  Minnesota,  to  join  a  camp  of  Indian 
and  half-breed  hunters.  Unprovided  with  snow  shoes, 
the  road  was  truly  a  "  via  dolorosa."  Without  a  par- 
ticle of  food  remauiing,  the  half-starved  colonists  at 
last  reached  the  long-sought  camp. 

The  night  of  their  arrival  was  Christmas  eve  of 
1817,  and  the  Indians  and  mixed  bloods  were  touched 
by  their  haggard  faces,  and  shared  with  them  their  own 
scanty  fiire.  The  buffalo  this  winter  was  very  scarce, 
and  the  Scotch  dragged  through  it,  a  set  of  mere  camp 
slaves. 

With  the  mild  rays  of  the  spring  of  1818,  hope  re- 


316  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

vived,  and  once  more  they  trudged  back  to  their  settle- 
ment. They  worked  with  pleasant  anticipations  as 
they  beheld  first  the  blade,  then  the  ear  develope ;  but, 
one  afternoon,  just  as  the  harvest  was  ripe,  and  they 
were  about  to  put  in  the  sickle,  "behold,  the  Lord 
formed  grasshoppers,  in  the  beginnmg  of  the  shoot- 
ing up  of  the  latter  growth,"  ^  and  their  joy  was  turned 
to  mourning.  The  air  was  filled  with  these  insects; 
"the  earth  did  quake  before  them,  like  the  noise  of 
chariots  on  the  tops  of  the  mountains,  or  Hke  the  noise 
of  a  flame  of  fire  that  devoureth  the  stubble,"  was 
the  sound  of  their  movements.  When  the  next  morn- 
ing arose,  it  was  "  a  day  of  darkness  and  of  gloominess ; 
a  day  of  clouds  and  thick  darkness,"  and  strong  men 
were  bowed  down ;  and,  like  the  Hebrew  captives,  by 
the  waters  of  Babylon,  they  lifted  up  their  voices  and 
wept. 

The  next  year  the  calamity  was  worse.  "  They  were 
produced  in  masses,  two,  three,  and  four  inches  in  depth. 
The  water  was  infected  by  them.  Along  the  river  they 
were  to  be  found  in  heaps  like  sea-weed,  and  might  be 
shovelled  with  a  spade.  Every  vegetable  substance 
was  either  eaten  up,  or  stripped  to  the  bare  stalk ;  the 
leaves  of  the  bushes,  and  the  bark  of  the  trees,  shared  the 
same  fate ;  and  the  grain  vanished  as  fast  as  it  appeared 
above  ground.  Even  fires,  if  kindled  out  of  doors,  were 
immediately  extinguished  by  them."  ^ 

The  old  Highlander  understood,  as  he  never  had 
before,  the  imagery  of  the  prophet,  which  he  had  often 
read  in  his  well-thumbed  Bible,  for  truly  "  the  land  was 
as  the  garden  of  Eden  before  them,  and  behind  them  a 

^  Amos,  chap,  vii.,  verse  2.    Joel,  chap.  ii.  ^  Ross. 


GRASSHOPPER  INVASION.  317 

desolate  wilderness,  nothing  did  escape  them."  They 
ran  upon  the  wall ;  they  climbed  up  on  the  houses ;  they 
entered  in  at  the  windows  like  a  thief. 

With  the  whole  head  sick,  and  the  whole  heart  faint, 
the  bra-vvny  Scotchmen  sought  once  more  the  plains  of 
Minnesota,  and  became  sons  of  Nimrod,  chasing  the 
deer  and  the  buffalo.  But,  when  they  reflected  upon 
the  mfluence  of  this  "  vagabond"  life  upon  their  child- 
ren, they  were  impelled  by  their  consciences  to  make 
one  more  attempt  to  establish  a  home  for  their  wives 
and  little  ones. 

During  the  winter  of  1819-20,  a  deputation  of  their 
number,  mounted  on  snow  shoes,  passed  through  the 
then  wilderness  of  Minnesota,  and  came  to  Prairie  du 
Chien,  a  journey  of  a  thousand  miles,  to  purchase  wheat 
for  seed. 

In  1820,  on  the  fifteenth  day  of  April,  three  Macki- 
naw boats,  manned  with  six  hands  each,  laden  with  two 
liundred  bushels  of  wheat,  one  hundred  bushels  of  oats, 
and  thirty  bushels  of  peas,  under  the  charge  of  Messrs. 
Graham  and  Laidlaw,  left  Prairie  du  Chien  for  Selkirk's 
colony,  on  the  Red  River  of  the  North.  Detained  by 
ice  at  Lake  Pepin,  they  planted  the  May  pole  thereon. 
On  the  third  of  May,  the  boats  passed  through  the  lake. 
The  voyage  was  continued  up  the  Minnesota  to  Big  Stone 
Lake,  from  which  a  portage  was  made  into  Lake  Tra- 
verse, a  mile  and  a  half  distant,  the  boats  being  placed 
on  wooden  rollers.  Then  descending  the  Sioux  Wood 
river  to  the  Red  river,  the  party  arrived  at  Pembina  in 
safety,  with  their  charge,  on  the  third  day  of  June. 
Pembina  was,  at  that  time,  as  now,  a  small  hamlet,  the 
rival  companies  of  the  North-west  and  of  Hudson's  Bay 
having  each  a  trading  post,  at  the  confluence  of  the 


318  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA, 

stream  with  the  Red  river,  but  on  opposite  sides.  The 
crop  at  Selkirk's  colony  having  entirely  failed  the  pre- 
vious year,  the  grain  was  much  needed  for  seed  the  en- 
suing season.  The  trip  performed  in  these  boats  is 
worthy  of  mention,  as  it  is  the  only  instance  of  heavy 
articles  being  transjDorted  the  entire  distance  from  Prairie 
du  Chien  to  the  Red  River  settlement,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  portage  between  Big  Stone  and  Traverse 
Lakes  by  water.  Charles  St.  Antoine,  who  was  one  of 
the  crew,  is  now  a  citizen  of  Dahkotah  county,  and  is 
one  of  the  few  survivors  of  that  eventful  voyage.  The 
party  returned  across  the  plains  on  foot  as  far  as  Big 
Stone  Lake,  from  which  point  they  descended  to  Prairie 
du  Chien  in  canoes.^ 

The  cost  of  this  expedition  was  about  six  thousand 
dollars,  and  was  borne  by  Lord  Selkirk. 

In  1820,  Captain  R.  May,  a  citizen  of  Berne,  in  the 
British  service,  was  commissioned  by  Selkirk  to  visit 
Switzerland,  and  engage  persons  to  repair  to  his  colony. 

After  years  of  bloodshed,  heart  burnings,  fruitless  liti- 
gations, and  vast  expense,  the  strife  was  concluded  by 
compromise.  In  the  year  1821,  the  two  companies,  in 
the  language  of  the  articles  of  settlement,  finding  "  that 
the  competition  in  the  said  trade  had  been  found  for  some 
years,  then  past,  to  be  productive  of  great  inconvenience 
and  loss,  not  only  to  the  said  company  and  association, 
but  to  the  said  trade  in  general,  and  also  of  great  injury  to 
the  native  Indians,  and  of  other  persons  his  Majesty's 
subjects,"  they  did  enter  into  an  agreement  for  putting 
an  end  to  competition,  and  carrying  on  the  trade  to- 
gether. 

^  Sibley's  Historical  Society  Address. 


UNITED  STATES  TROOPS  STATIONED  IN  MINNESOTA.      319 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

The  rumour  that  Lord  Selkirk  was  founding  a  colony 
on  the  borders  of  the  United  States,  and  that  the  Hud- 
son Bay  Company  had  posts  within  the  region  of  country 
comprised  within  the  boundaries  of  Minnesota,  did  not 
fail  to  reach  the  authorities  at  Washington. 

Under  the  administration  of  Mr.  Monroe,  the  head 
of  the  war  department  was  the  intellectual  and  dis- 
tinguished John  C.  Calhoun.  At  that  period  he  was 
deeply  interested  in  developing  the  resources  of  every 
section  of  the  Union.  During  his  term  of  office,  the 
efficiency  of  the  army  was  increased ;  the  condition  of 
the  aborigines  noted,  and  the  power  of  the  United 
States  felt  in  remote  regions  where  it  had  not  been 
acknowledged. 

On  the  tenth  of  February,  1819,  an  order  was  issued 
from  the  war  department,  concentrating  the  Fifth  Regi- 
ment of  Infantry  at  Detroit,  with  a  view  to  transporta- 
tion by  way  of  Fox  and  Wisconsin  rivers  to  Prairie 
du  Chien.  After  garrisoning  that  post  and  Rock  Island, 
the  remainder  were  to  proceed  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Minnesota,  then  designated  the  Saint  Peter  s,  to  esta- 
blish a  post  at  which  the  head-quarters  of  the  regiment 
were  to  be  located.     About  the  time  of  this  order,  the 


320  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

portion  of  Illinois  territory  not  included  within  the 
state  of  that  name,  was  attached  to  Michigan,  of  which 
Lewis  Cass  was  governor. 

In  the  spring  of  1819,  the  county  of  Crawford  was 
organized,  which  included  a  large  portion  of  Minnesota. 
Colonel  Leavenworth,  with  the  troops  on  their  way  to 
build  the  new  post  at  the  junction  of  the  Minnesota, 
brought  blank  commissions  for  county  officers  to  be 
filled  up  by  the  inhabitants.  With  difficulty  officers 
were  obtained.  Johnson,  United  States  factor,  was 
made  Chief  Justice  of  the  County  Court,  and  his  asso- 
ciates were  Michael  Brisbois  and  Francis  Bouthillier  j 
Wilfred  Owens  was  appointed  Judge  of  Probate ;  John 
S.  Findley,  Clerk  of  the  Court,  and  Thomas  McNair, 
Sheriff. 

Colonel  Leavenworth,  having  attended  to  his  duties 
at  the  Prairie,  ascended  the  Mississippi  with  his  soldiers 
in  keel-boats.  The  water  was  so  low  at  that  period, 
that  for  weeks  they  "dragged  their  slow  length  along," 
not  reaching  Mendota  until  September,  the  contem- 
plated site  for  temporary  barracks,  the  remains  of  which 
are  visible  above  the  present  village  of  Mendota,  on  the 
south  side  of  the  river.  The  officers  with  their  wives 
lived  in  the  boats  until  rude  huts  and  pickets  were 
erected.  Before  the  quarters  were  completed,  the  rigour 
of  winter  was  felt,  and  the  removal  from  the  open 
boats  to  the  log  cabms,  plastered  with  clay,  was  con- 
sidered a  privilege.  Though  the  first  winter  was  ex- 
tremely cold,  the  garrison  remained  cheerful,  and  the 
officers  maintained  pleasant  social  intercourse.^    During 

^  Mrs.  Ellet,  in  a  sketch  of  the  wife  "  Huts  had  also  to  be  built,  though 
of  the  first  commissary  of  this  post,  in  the  rudest  manner,  to  serve  as  a 
says :  shelter  during  the  winter,  from  the 


CANTONMENT  AT  MENDOTA.  321 

the  winter,  that  dreadful  disease,  scurvy,  appeared 
among  the  troops,  and  raged  so  extensively,  that  for  a 
few  days  military  duty  was  suspended.  It  is  said  that 
"so  sudden  was  the  attack,  that  soldiers  apparently  in 
good  health  when  they  retired  at  night,  were  found  dead 
in  the  morning.  One  man  who  was  relieved  from  his 
tour  of  sentinel  duty,  and  stretched  himself  u23on  a 
bench,  when  he  was  called  four  hours  after  to  resume 
his  duties,  was  found  lifeless.'" 

The  colonel  at  this  time  displayed  his  humanity,  and, 
with  a  few  friends,  spent  several  days  searching  the 
country  for  antiscorbutics. 

In  the  month  of  May,  1820,  they  entered  into  summer 
encampment  at  a  spring  not  far  from  the  old  Baker 
trading  house.  The  camp  was  named  Cold  Water.  On 
the  tenth  of  September  the  corner  stone  of  Fort  Snel- 
ling  was  laid.  The  winter  of  1820-21  found  them 
again  at  the  cantonment  on  the  south  side  of  the  river ; 
the  present  fort  not  being  sufficiently  advanced  for 
occupation  by  the  troops.     The  first  pine  lumber  ever 

rigours  of  a  severe  climate.     After  was  no  protection  for  the  inmates, 

living  with  her  family  in  the  boat  but    the    baby  in    the  cradle  was 

for  a  month,  itwas  ahighlyapprecia-  pushed  under  the   bed   for  safety, 

ted   luxury  for  Mrs.  Clark  to  find  Notwithstanding   these   discomforts 

herself  at  home  in  a  log  hut,  plastered  and  perils,  the  inconveniences  they 

with  clay,  and  chinked  for  her  re-  had  to  encounter,  and  their  isolated 

ception.     It  was   December   before  situation,    the   little   party  of  emi- 

thcy  got  into  winter  quarters,  and  grants  were  not  without  the  social 

the    fierce   winds   of   that  exposed  enjoyments ;   they  were  nearly   all 

region,  with  terrific  storms  now  and  young    married    persons,   cheerful, 

then,   were   enough   to  make  them  and  fond  of  gayety,  and  had  their 

keep  within  doors  as  much  as  possi-  dancing  assemblages  once  a    fort- 

ble.     Once  in  a  violent  tempest,  the  night." 

roof  of  their  dwelling  was  raised  by  ^  Sibley's  Address  before  Minne 

the  wind,  and  partially  slid  ofi";  there  sota  Historical  Society. 
21 


322  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

cut  Oil  Rum  River  was  by  soldiers  for  tlie  use  of  the  for- 
tifications. 

On  the  eighteenth  of  November,  1819,  Governor  Cass 
addressed  a  communication  to  Mr.  Calhoun,  secretary 
of  war,  proposing  an  exploration  of  the  territory 
recently  attached  to  Michigan,  for  the  purpose  of  becom- 
ing better  acquainted  with  the  Indian  tribes,  and  its 
mineral  and  agricultural  resources.  The  suggestions 
were  approved,  and  on  the  morning  of  July  fifth,  1820, 
the  expedition,  on  the  forty-third  da}^  of  their  journey 
by  the  lakes  from  Detroit,  entered  the  St.  Louis  river 
of  Minnesota.  The  expedition  consisted  of  Governor 
Cass,  Dr.  Wolcott,  Indian  agent  at  Chicago  and  surgeon, 
Captain  Douglass,  military  engineer,  H.  R.  Schoolcraft, 
mineralogist.  Lieutenant  Mackay,  James  Doty,  Esq., 
secretary,  Major  Forsyth,  private  secretary  to  the 
governor,  C.  C.  Trowbridge,  topographer,  besides  the 
voyageurs,  soldiers,  and  Indians,  amounting  in  all  to 
about  forty  persons. 

Three  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Louis  they 
came  to  an  Ojibway  village  of  fourteen  lodges.  Among 
the  residents  were  the  children  of  an  African,  by  the 
name  of  Bungo,  the  servant  of  a  British  officer  who 
once  commanded  at  Mackinaw.  Their  hair  was  curled 
and  skin  glossy,  and  their  features  altogether  African. 
A  short  distance  above  there  was  the  abandoned  esta- 
blishment of  the  old  North-west  Company. 

On  the  evening  of  the  first  day's  ascent  of  the  stream, 
the  expedition  lodged  at  the  American  Fur  Company's 
houses,  twenty-four  miles  from  the  lake.  The  establish- 
ment consisted  of  a  range  of  log  buildings,  enclosing 
three  sides  of  a  square,  open  towards  the  river,  and 
contained  the   warehouse,  canoe    and    boat  yard,  and 


GENERAL  CASS  AT  SANDY  LAKE.  323 

dwelling-house  of  the  resident  clerk.  The  company 
had  also  three  horses,  two  oxen,  three  cows,  and  four 
bulls  at  this  post. 

On  the  fifteenth  of  the  month  they  arrived  at 
Sandy  Lake,  and  were  received  at  the  post  of  the 
American  Company,  in  the  temporary  absence  of  the 
trader  Morrison,  by  two  of  his  clerks.  They  occupied 
the  establishment  of  the  old  North-west  Company, 
which  was  built  in  1794,  and  has  been  described  in  a 
previous  chapter.  On  the  appearance  of  the  exploring 
party,  in  accordance  with  custom,  the  Sandy  Lake 
Ojibways  saluted  them  with  a  discharge  of  fire-arms 
loaded  with  balls. 

The  population  of  the  Indian  village  at  that  time  was 
one  hundred  and  twenty,  and  their  principal  men  were 
Broken  Arm  and  De  Breche. 

On  the  sixteenth  a  council  was  held,  and  Governor 
Cass  proposed  that  they  should  send  a  deputation  of 
their  best  men  to  the  mouth  of  the  Minnesota,  and  con- 
clude a  peace  wdth  the  Dahkotahs,  to  which  they  cheer- 
fully consented.  The  next  day  the  officers  of  the  expe- 
dition, with  nineteen  voyageurs  and  Indians,  and  pro- 
visions for  twelve  days,  left  the  post  with  a  view  to 
exploration  of  the  Upper  Mississippi.  On  the  nine- 
teenth, the  atmosphere  in  the  region  of  Pokeguma 
Rapids  was  so  cold  that  the  canoes  in  the  morning  were 
coated  with  a  scale  of  ice.  On  the  twenty-first  of 
July  they  reached  Upper  Red  Cedar  Lake,  which  they 
considered  the  true  source  of  the  Mississippi,  and  named 
Cass  Lake. 

On  the  n(^rth  shore  of  the  lake  was  a  village  of  sixty 
Ojibways,  of  whom  Wiscoup,  or  the  Sweet,  was  the 
chief     Here  were  found  two   employees  of  the  Fur 


Zli  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

Company,  one  of  whom,  during  the  previous  winter, 
having  been  caught  in  a  snow  storm,  had  his  feet  frozen 
so  badly  that  they  had  sloughed  off.  For  a  time  his 
Indian  wife  felt  an  interest  in  his  sad  condition,  and 
supported  him  by  catching  fish ;  but  at  last  he  became 
a  weariness  to  her,  and  she  deserted.  For  months,  as 
he  was  unable  to  walk,  he  had  subsisted  upon  the  coarse 
weeds  about  his  hut. 

The  expedition  discovered  him  seated  on  a  mat  of 
rushes,  in  a  cabin  of  bark,  with  the  stumps  of  his  legs 
wrapped  in  deer  skins.  With  long  beard,  sunken  eyes, 
hollow  cheeks,  and  bones  ready  to  protrude  through 
the  skin,  he  was  more  to  be  pitied  than  Job.  In  the 
w^ords  of  the  patriarch,  his  "flesh  w^as  clothed  with 
worms  and  clods  of  dust;  his  skin  was  broken  and 
loathsome ;  by  night  he  was  full  of  tossings  to  and  fro 
unto  the  dawning  of  the  day."  The  sympathies  of  the 
whole  party  were  aroused,  and  Governor  Cass  took 
means  to  make  him  comfortable,  and  have  him  trans- 
ported to  the  Fur  Company's  post  at  Sandy  Lake. 

The  next  day  they  commenced  the  descent  of  the 
river,  and  returned  to  Sandy  Lake  on  the  afternoon  of 
the  twenty-fourth.  On  the  twenty-fifth,  with  a  delega- 
tion of  Ojibways,  they  entered  the  canoes  once  more, 
and  steered  towards  the  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  Min- 
nesota. The  twenty-eighth  was  passed  in  hunting  buf- 
falo, between  Elk  river  and  the  Little  Falls.  Having 
spent  several  hours  in  hunting,  they  descended  the 
river  untU  three  o'clock,  when  they  landed  again  to 
hunt  at  the  site  of  a  recent  Dahkotah  encampment.  In 
the  centre  of  the  deserted  camp,  on  a  long  pole,  was  a 
letter  of  birch  bark,  addressed  to  the  Ojibways,  in  which 
they  were  informed  that  a  peace  party,  at  the  solicita- 


CASS  AT  FORT  SNELLING.— RAPID  VEGETATION.  325 

tion  of  the  commander  of  the  fort,  had  proceeded  to 
that  spot,  but  not  finding  any  of  their  nation,  had  re- 
turned. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  thirtieth,  they  reached  the 
garrison  at  "  Camp  Cold  Water,"  near  the  present  St. 
Louis  House,  near  Fort  Snelling,  and  Governor  Cass 
was  received  with  the  customary  national  salute.  They 
found  here  a  busy  scene :  officers  and  their  men  were 
all  occupied.  In  addition  to  building  the  fort,  ninety 
acres  of  ground  were  under  cultivation,  and  the  soil 
proved  very  fertile.  Green  peas  had  been  ready  for 
the  table  on  the  fifteenth  of  June ;  the  corn  was  ripe  on 
the  fifteenth  of  July,  and  the  wheat  was  now  ripe  for 
the  harvest. 

On  the  first  of  August,  at  the  winter  barracks  on  the 
south  side  of  the  Minnesota,  which  were  then  being 
occupied  by  Taliaferro  as  an  Indian  agency,  a  council 
was  held  with  the  Dahkotahs  and  Ojibways.  Go- 
vernor Cass,  Colonel  Leavenworth,  and  other  officers 
represented  the  United  States.  Shokpay  and  other 
chiefs  spoke  for  the  Dahkotahs,  and  Babasikumsiba  for 
the  Ojibwa}s.  Though  the  Dahkotahs  agreed  to  a  ces- 
sation of  hostilities  against  the  Ojibways,  they  were 
very  indifferent,  and  some  of  the  chiefs  and  braves  re- 
fused to  smoke  the  pipe  of  peace. 

On  the  second  of  August,  the  party  continued  their 
descent  of  the  Mississippi,  and  visited  the  cave  near  the 
upper  limits  of  the  city  of  Saint  Paul,  which  they  were 
erroneously  told  was  "Carver's  Cave."'  Four  miles  be- 
low, at  a  point  now  called  Pig's  Eye,  they  found  the 
village  of  Little  Crow.  "Here,"  says  Schoolcraft,  in 
his  narrative  of  the  expedition,  is  a  "  Sioux  (Dahkotah) 

^  Carver's  cuve,  is  iu  the  luwer  suburb. 


326  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

band  of  twelve  lodges,  and  consisting  of  about  two  hun- 
dred souls,  who  plant  com  on  the  adjoining  plain,  and 
cultiA'ate  the  cucumber  and  pumpkin.  They  sallied 
from  their  lodges  on  seeing  us  approach,  and  manifested 
the  utmost  satisfaction  in  our  landing.  Le  Petit  Cor- 
beau  was  among  the  first  to  greet  us.  He  is  a  man  be- 
low the  common  size,  but  brawny  and  well  proportioned ; 
and  although  rising  of  fifty  years  of  age,  retains  the 
looks  and  vigour  of  forty.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  fire 
in  his  eyes,  which  are  black  and  piercing.  His  nose  is 
prominent  and  has  the  aquiUne  curve,  his  forehead  fall- 
ing a  little  from  the  facial  angle,  and  his  whole  counte- 
nance animated,  and  expressive  of  a  shrewd  mind.  We 
were  conducted  into  his  cabin,  which  is  spacious,  being 
about  sixty  feet  in  length  mid  thirty  in  width,  built  in 
a  permanent  manner  of  logs,  and  covered  with  bark. 
Being  seated,  he  addressed  Governor  Cass  in  a  speech 
of  some  length,  in  which  he  expressed  his  satisfaction 
in  seeing  him  there,  and  said  that  in  his  extensive 
journey,  he  must  have  experienced  a  good  man}^  hard- 
ships and  difficulties,  and  seen  a  great  deal  of  the  In- 
dian way  of  living.  He  said  he  was  glad  that  the  go- 
vernor had  not,  like  many  other  officers  and  agents  of 
the  United  States,  who  had  lately  visited  those  regions, 
passed  by  without  calling.  He  acquiesced  in  the  treaty 
which  had  lately  been  concluded  with  the  Chippeways, 
and  was  happy  that  a  stop  had  been  put  to  the  effusion 
of  human  blood.  He  then  adverted  to  a  recent  attack 
of  a  party  of  Fox  Indians  upon  some  of  their  people 
towards  the  sources  of  the  river  Minnesota,  in  which 
nine  men  had  been  killed.  He  considered  it  a  dastardly 
act,  and  said  that  if  that  little  tribe  should  continue  to 
haunt  their  territories  in  a  hostile  manner,  they  would 


SNELLING  ARRIVES.— WANATA  ARRESTED.  327 

at  length  drive  him  into  anger,  and  compel  him  to  do  a 
thing  he  did  not  wish." 

The  next  day  they  arrived  at  the  village  of  Rem- 
nichah,  or  Red  Wing.  Tatankimani,  or  the  Walking 
Buffalo,  one  of  the  signers  of  the  treaty  of  friendship  at 
Portage  des  Sioux,  in  1815,  was  the  principal  man,  and 
about  sixty  years  of  age.  One  of  his  granddaughters 
married  a  Mr.  Crawford,  who  was  a  prominent  British 
trader  durmg  the  war  of  1812. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  fourth,  they  stopped  a  few 
minutes  at  Wapashaw  village,  the  site  of  the  town  of 
Winona ;  and  on  the  evening  of  the  fifth,  their  canoes 
grated  on  the  pebbly  banks  of  the  village  of  Prairie  du 
Chien.  At  this  point  Colonel  Snelling  was  met  on  his 
way  to  relieve  Lieutenant-Colonel  Leavenworth  of  the 
command  of  the  troops  at  Camp  Cold  Water,  opposite 
Mendota.  His  wife,  a  few  days  after  her  arrival  at  the 
post,  gave  birth  to  the  first  infant  of  white  parents  in 
Minnesota,  which,  after  a  brief  existence  of  thirteen 
months,  departed  to  a  better  land.  The  dilapidated 
monument  which  marks  the  remains  of  the  "little  one," 
is  still  visible  in  the  grave-3'ard  of  the  fort.  Beside 
Mrs.  Snelling,  the  wife  of  the  Commissary,  and  of  Cap- 
tain Gooding,  were  in  the  garrison,  the  first  American 
ladies  that  ever  wintered  in  Minnesota. 

Shortly  after  Colonel  Snelling  assumed  command  of 
the  garrison,  the  Dahkotahs  appeared  unfriendly.  A 
large  body  of  warriors  under  the  leadership  of  the  cele- 
brated Yankton  Wanata,  hovered  around  the  barracks 
for  some  time,  and  at  last  the  chief  presented  himself 
at  the  gates,  ostensibly  desiring  to  have  a  friendly  talk 
with  the  commander.  The  gates  were  opened,  and  suf- 
ficient information  having  been  obtained  to  warrant  the 


328  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

suspicion  that  they  meditated  an  attack,  he  and  his 
companions  were  seized,  and  marched  to  the  council 
hall  under  a  guard  of  glittering  bayonets.  In  the 
council  chamber  his  treachery  was  fully  exposed,  and 
he  was  deprived  of  his  badges  and  medals  which  he  had 
received  from  the  British,  and  they  were  destroyed  in 
his  presence.  In  their  mortification,  the  Indians  Avitli 
the  chief  gashed  their  flesh  with  knives.  By  this 
decided  step,  Wanata  was  impressed  with  the  folly  of 
opposing  the  United  States  troops,  and  from  that  time 
showed  himself  friendly  to  all  American  ofiicers  with 
whom  he  was  brought  in  contact. 

Not  far  from  this  period  two  soldiers  were  shot  by  a 
party  of  Sissetoan  Dahkotahs,  near  Council  Bluffs,  on  the 
Missouri.  The  United  States  authorities,  to  compel  the 
surrender  of  the  murderers,  notified  the  Sissetoan  bands, 
that  no  traders  should  visit  them  till  the  guilty  ones 
were  delivered. 

Deprived  of  blankets,  powder,  and  tobacco,  they  held 
a  council,  at  Big  Stone  Lake,  to  determine  what  should 
be  done,  and  listened  to  the  arguments  of  a  trader  named 
Colin  Campbell.  Mahzah  Khotah,  and  another  of  the 
band,  announced  themselves  as  the  guilty  ones,  and 
expressed  a  willingness  to  deliver  themselves  to  the 
soldiers,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Minnesota.  The  aged' 
father  of  the  latter  then  offered  himself  as  a  substitute, 
which  was  agreeable  to  the  council.  The  next  day 
Mahzah  Khotah,  and  the  old  man,  started  for  the  gar- 
rison, accompanied  by  friends  and  relatives. 

On  the  twelfth  of  November,  1820,  when  about  a 
mile  distant,  the  party  halted,  smoked,  and  the  death 
dirge  was  chanted.  Blackening  their  faces,  and  gashing 
their  arms,  as  a  token  of  grief,  they  formed  a  proces- 


A  FATHER'S  ATONEMENT  FOR  HIS  SON. 


529 


sion,  and  marched  to  the  centre  of  the  soldier's  parade 
ground.  First  came  a  Sissetoan,  bearing  a  British  flag, 
and  then  one  of  the  murderers  and  the  aged  chief,  who 
had  become  an  atonement  for  his  only  son.  Their  arms 
were  secured  by  ropes  of  buffalo  hair,  and  large  siDlinters 
of  oak  were  thrust  through  the  flesh,  above  the  elbows,  to 
mdicate  their  contempt  of  death.  As  they  approached, 
singing  death-songs,  a  company  of  soldiers  was  drawn 
up,  and  Colonel  Snelling  came  out  to  meet  them.  A  fire 
was  then  kindled,  and  the  British  flag  burned,  after 
which  the  medal  of  the  murderer  was  given  up,  and 
then  both  surrendered  themselves.  The  old  chief  was 
detamed  as  a  hostage,  and  the  murderer  sent  to  St. 
Louis,  for  trial.^     Placed  in  a  boat,  he  was  rowed  by 


^  The  following  letter  addressed 
to  the  secretary  of  war,  contains 
most  of  the  facts  narrated. 

" Cantonment  St.  Petee's, 
November  13,  1820. 

"  Sir — when  I  had  tho  honour  to 
address  you  on  the  tenth,  from  the 
disposition  then  manifested  by  the 
Sussitongs,  I  had  no  hope  of  obtain- 
ing the  surrender  of  the  murderers 
of  our  people  on  the  Missouri,  but 
contrary  to  my  expectation,  one  of 
the  murderers,  and  an  old  chief  self- 
devoted  in  the  place  of  his  son,  were 
voluntarily  brought  in  and  delivered 
up  yesterday. 

"  The  ceremony  of  delivery  was 
conducted  with  much  solemnity.  A 
procession  was  fornjcd  at  some  dis- 
tance from  the  garrison,  and  marched 
to'the  centre  of  our  parade.  It  was 
preceded  by  a  Sussitong  bearing  the 
British  flag  ;  the  murderer  and  de- 
voted chief  followed  with  their  arms 


pinioned,  and  large  splinters  of  wood 
thrust  through  them  above  the  el- 
bows, to  indicate  as  I  understood  their 
contempt  of  pain  and  death.  The 
relatives  and  friends  followed,  and 
on  their  way  joined  them  in  singing 
their  de^th-song.  When  they  ar- 
rived in  front  of  the  guard  the 
British  flag  was  laid  on  a  fire,  pre- 
pared for  the  occasion,  and  consumed ; 
the  murderer  gave  up  his  medal,  and 
both  the  prisoners  were  surrendered. 
The  old  chief  I  have  detained  as  a 
hostage,  the  murderer  I  have  sent  to 
St.  Lewis,  under  a  proper  guard,  for 
trial,  presuming  it  is  a  course  you 
will  approve. 

"  I  am  much  indebted  to  Mr.  Colin 
Campbell,  tho  interpreter,  for  his 
great  exertions  in  bringing  this  affair 
to  a  speedy  issue.  The  delivery  of 
the  murderer  is  to  be  solely  attri- 
buted to  his  influence  over  the  Sussi- 
tongs." 


330 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


soldiers  to  the  place  of  destination,  but  no  witness 
appearing  against  him,  he  was  discharged,  and  while 
returning,  is  said  to  have  been  killed  by  a  frontiersman, 
in  Missouri. 

In  1822  a  man  by  the  name  of  Perkins,  of  Kentucky, 
obtained  permission  of  Taliaferro,  the  agent  for  the  Dah- 
kotahs,  to  build  a  saw-mill  in  the  Chippeway  valley. 
His  partners  were  Lockwood  and  Rolette,  of  Prairie  du 
Chien.  For  the  privilege  of  cutting  timber  they  agreed 
to  pay  Wapashaw's  band,  who  claimed  the  country,  one 
thousand  dollars  annually,  in  goods.  The  spot  selected 
for  the  mill,  was  on  a  small  stream  running  into  the 
Menomonee,  about  twenty  miles  from  its  mouth. 

After  the  coalition  of  the  two  great  British  Fur  Com- 
panies, some  of  those  who  had  been  in  their  service, 
Renville,  Jeffries,  McKenzie,  and  others,  in  company 
with  a  few  American  traders,  formed  a  new  company 
called  the  Columbia,  whose  central  establishment  was 
at  Lake  Traverse.  They  were  licensed  by  the  proper 
authorities',  to  trade  with  the  Indians  south  of  the  British 
boundary  line.  The  only  rival  in  the  trade,  was  the 
American  Fur  Company.^  They  also  had  a  trading-post 
on  the  Minnesota,  about  a  mile  above  Fort  Snelling. 

^  One  of  their  number  furnished    of  furs  formerly  obtained  in   this 
to  the  historian  of  Long's  expedition,     region, 
the  following  statementof  the  amount 


Beaver  , 
Bear, 
Buffalo, 
Martin, 
Otter      . 
Fisher    , 
Elk.       . 


No.  of  packs. 

10  . 

20  . 

400  . 

10  . 

10  . 

25  . 

40  . 


of  each  pack. 

Value  of  pack. 

100  lbs.  weight 

.    ^400  .     . 

12  skins      .     . 

75  .     . 

10  skins      .     .     . 

40  .     . 

100  lbs.    .     .     . 

.      300  .     . 

100  lbs.    .     .     . 

.      600  .     . 

.      450  .     . 

16  skins      .     .     . 

80  .     . 

14000 
1500 

16,000 
3000 
6000 

11,250 
3200 


FIRST  MILL  IN  MINNESOTA. 


331 


It  was  during  this  year,  the  fort  being  sufficiently 
completed  for  occupancy,  that  the  first  mill  in  Minnesota 
was  erected.  It  was  built  under  the  supervision  of 
officers  of  the  fort,  on  the  site  of  Minneapolis,  and  was 
guarded  by  a  sergeant  and  a  few  privates. 

Joseph  R.  Brown,  now  a  well  known  public-spirited 
citizen,  at  this  time  a  soldier  in  the  army,  in  company 
with  a  son  of  Colonel  Snellmg,  and  one  or  two  others, 
explored  the  rivulet  that  supplies  the  cascade  of  Minne 
Ha-Ha,  as  far  as  Lake  Minne  Tonka. 

The  settlers  at  the  Selkirk  colony  were,  as  has  been 
seen,  reduced  to  great  straits.  Owing  to  their  fratricidal 
strife  agriculture  had  been  neglected,  and  at  one  time 
they  were  forced  to  live  upon  salt  and  lettuce. 

Among  others  at  Pembina  was  a  trader  by  the  name 
of  Hess,  who,  finding  provisions  scarce,  determined  to 
go  and  join  a  party  who  had  gone  out  on  a  buffiilo  hunt. 
He  commenced  his  journey  with  two  daughters  and  two 
other  settlers.  As  he  had  married  an  Ojibway  woman, 
he  travelled  through  the  Dahkotah  country  with  the 
greatest  precaution,  knowing  the  hereditary  feud  that 
existed  between  the  nation  of  his  mother's  children  and 


Name. 

Mynx,    . 
Mu.skrat, 
Lynx,     . 
Swan,    . 
Rabbit, 
Wolverine, 
Cowskins, 
Wolves, 
Moose,   . 
Fox, .    . 


No.  of  packs. 

.      10  . 

.    40  . 

.    20  . 

.      2  . 

.      4  . 

1  . 

.     20  . 

.     10  . 

.     10  . 

.      5  . 


No.  of  skins. 


500  skins 


60  skins 
400  skins 
400  skins 

16  skins 


Value  of  pack. 

$200  . 

200  . 

280  . 

60  . 


80 

40 

80 

260 


ToUl.. 

$2000 

8000 

5600 

120 

32 

75 

1600 

400 

800 

1300 


637 


$64,877 


332  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

the  Dahkotahs.  On  the  sixth  day  of  the  journey  he 
left  his  companions  to  chase  some  buffaloes  that  were  ill 
sight.  He  did  not  return  for  some  time,  but  after  a 
long  ride  across  the  prairie  he  saw  the  primitive  cart  in 
which  his  family  had  travelled,  and  hoped  to  find  them 
and  recount  his  success  in  the  hunt.  On  his  aj)proach 
he  found  one  of  his  companions  scalped,  and  deprived 
of  both  his  feet.  A  few  steps  beyond,  lay  one  of  his 
beloved  daughters  with  a  knife  lodged  in  her  heart.  He 
then  discovered  the  lifeless  form  of  his  other  fellow- 
traveller,  but  could  not  find  his  second  daughter. 

Horrified  and  helpless  he  returned  to  Pembina,  after 
travelUng  three  days  and  three  nights  on  foot,  without 
a  morsel  of  food.  Reciting  his  melancholy  story,  the 
settlers  were  seized  with  a  panic,  and  not  one  would 
accompany  him  to  the  scene  of  slaughter  and  bury  the 
dead. 

Obtaining  an  intimation  that  one  daughter  yet  lived, 
a  captive  in  a  Yankton  lodge,  with  the  energy  of  despair 
he  started  for  the  camp,  determined  to  rescue  her  or  to 
die  in  the  attempt.  After  a  long  tramp  he  descried  the 
cone-shaped  teepee,  and  before  he  reached  the  spot  a 
Yankton  accosted  him  and  asked  whether  he  was  a 
friend  or  foe.  Hess,  nerved  to  the  highest  physical 
courage,  said,  "  You  know  me  as  your  foe ;  you  know 
me  by  the  name  of  Standing  Bull ;  you  know  you  have 
killed  one  of  my  daughters  and  taken  the  other  prisoner." 
The  Dahkotah  was  impressed  by  his  fearlessness,  and 
extended  his  hand,  and,  taking  hun  to  the  camp,  all 
complimented  him.  Finding  his  daughter,  he  was 
cheered  to  learn  that  she  had  been  treated  with  kind- 
ness. Her  owner  was  at  first  unwilling  to  release  her, 
but  at  last  consented  for  a  certain  ransom. 


HESS'S  DAUGHTER  RANSOMED. 


333 


Seeking  the  neighbouring  trading  posts  of  the  Cohimbia 
Fur  Company,  the  traders  sympathized  with  him,  and 
furnished  him  the  necessary  amount  of  goods  on  a  long 
credit,  and  bearing  the  merchandise  to  the  camp,  the 
Dahkotah,  true  to  his  word,  delivered  the  daughter ;  but 
now  the  maiden  had  Ijecome  attached  to  those  ^^dth 
whom  she  had  been  dwelling,  and  reluctantly  left  their 
lodges. 

On  the  appearance  of  spring  in  the  year  1823,  a  num- 
ber of  emigrants  who  had  been  induced  by  the  prospec- 
tus of  the  Earl  of  Selkirk's  agent  to  leave  their  mountain 
homes  in  Switzerland,  and  settle  in  the  valley  of  the 
Red  river,  determined  to  seek  the  United  States.  After 
a  long  journey  from  Pembina,  by  way  of  Lake  Traverse, 
they  reached  what  is  now  Fort  Snelling,  in  a  state  of 
great  destitution,  and  were  there  aided  by  the  officers 
of  the  garrison.^ 


'  "  In  1823,  news  was  brought  by 
the  traders  that  two  white  children 
were  with  a  party  of  Sioux  on  the  St. 
Peter's.  It  appeared  from  what 
they  could  learn,  that  a  family  from 
Red  river — Selkirk's  settlement — 
had  been  on  their  way  to  the  fort, 
when  a  war  party  of  Sioux  met  them, 
murdered  the  parents  and  an  infant, 
and  made  the  boys  prisoners.  Col. 
Snelling  sent  an  officer  with  a  party 
of  soldiers  to  rescue  the  children. 
After  some  delay  in  the  ransom, 
they  were  finally  brought.  An  old 
squaw,  who  had  the  youngest,  was 
very  unwilling  to  give  him  up,  and 
indeed  the  child  did  not  wish  to  leave 
her.  The  oldest,  about  eight  years 
old,  said  his  name  was  John  Tully, 
and  his  brother,  five  years  old,  Abra- 


ham. Ilis  mother  had  an  infant, 
but  he  saw  the  Indians  dash  its 
brains  out  against  a  tree,  then  killed 
his  father  and  mother.  Because  he 
cried  they  took  him  by  his  hair,  and 
cut  a  small  piece  from  his  head, 
which  was  a  running  sore  when  he 
was  retaken.  Col.  Snelling  took 
John  into  his  family,  Major  Clark 
the  other,  but  he  was  afterwards 
sent  to  an  orphan  asylum  in  New 
York.  The  eldest  died  of  lockjaw, 
occasioned  by  a  cut  in  the  ankle 
while  using  an  axe.  Ilis  death-bed 
conversion  was  afi'ecting  and  remark- 
able. One  day,  after  he  had  been  ill 
several  weeks,  he  said,  '  Mrs.  Snel- 
ling, I  have  been  a  very  wicked  boy  ; 
I  once  tried  to  poison  my  father  be- 
cause he  said  he  would  whip  me.     I 


334 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


It  was  during  this  year  that  it  was  demonstrated  that 
it  was  practicable  to  navigate  the  Mississippi  from  St. 
Louis  to  the  junction  of  the  Minnesota  river.  Pre- 
viously it  had  been  supposed  that  the  rapids  at  Rock 
Island  would  prove  an  insurmountable  barrier.  On 
the  second  of  May,  according  to  a  printed  announce- 
ment, the  Virginia,  a  steamer  one  hundred  and  eighteen 
feet  in  length  and  twenty-two  in  width,  drawing  six 
feet  of  water,  left  her  moorings  at  the  St.  Louis  levee 
destined  for  Fort  Snelling. 

Among  the  passengers  were  Major  Taliaferro,  the 
agent  of  the  Dahkotahs ;  Beltrami,  an  Italian  Count, 
once  a  judge  of  the  Royal  Court,  then  a  political  refu- 
gee ;^    Great    Eagle,  a   Sauk   chief,    returning  to   his 


stole  a  ring  from  you  which  you 
valued  much,  and  sold  it  to  a  soldier, 
and  then  I  told  you  a  lie  about  it.  I 
have  given  you  a  great  deal  of 
trouble.  I  have  been  very  vricked. 
I  am  going  to  die  the  day  after  to- 
morrow, and  don't  know  where  I 
shall  go.     Oh,  pray  for  me.' 

"His  benefactress  answered, '  John, 
God  will  forgive  you,  if  you  repent ; 
but  you  must  pray  too,  for  yourself. 
God  is  more  willing  to  hear  than  we 
are  to  pray.  Christ  died  to  save  just 
such  a  sinner  as  you  are,  and  you 
must  call  upon  that  Saviour  to  save 
you.'  All  his  sins  appeared  to  rise 
before  him  as  he  confessed  them,  and 
he  seemed  to  feel  that  he  was  too 
great  a  sinner  to  hope  for  pardon. 
Mrs.  Snelling  read  to  him,  and  in- 
structed him.  He  never  had  re- 
ceived any  religious  instruction,  ex- 
cept in  the  Sunday  school  taught  by 
Mrs.  Clark  and  herself,  and  being 
accustomed  to  say  his  prayers  with 


her  children,  and  always  be  present 
when  she  read  the  church  service  on 
Sundays.  The  next  morning  after 
the  above  conversation,  when  she 
asked  him  how  he  had  rested  during 
the  night,  he  said,  '  I  prayed  very 
often  in  the  night ;  I  shall  die  to- 
morrow, and  I  know  not  what  shall 
become  of  me.'  For  several  hours 
he  remained  tranquil,  with  his  eyes 
closed,  but  would  answer  whenever 
spoken  to ;  then  suddenly  he  ex- 
claimed, 'Glory!  glory!'  His  friend 
said,  'John,  what  do  you  mean  by 
that  word  ?'  '  Oh  !  Mrs.  Snelling,  I 
feel  so  good — I  feel  so  good !  Oh  I 
I  cannot  tell  you  how  good  I  feel.'  " 
— Mrs.  Snelling's  Reminiscences  in 
"Pioneer  Women  of  the  West." 

^  "  An  Italian  gentleman  came  on 
the  boat,  who  professed  to  be  travel- 
ling for  the  purpose  of  writing 
a  book,  and  brought  letters  of 
introduction  from  Mrs.  Snelling's 
friends  in    St.  Louis.     The  colonel 


FIRST  STEAMBOAT  ON  UPPER  MISSISSIPPI. 


335 


village  from,  a  conference  with  Governor  Clark ;  and  a 
family  from  Kentucky,  with  their  children,  guns,  chests, 
cats,  dogs,  and  chickens,  emigrating  to  Galena,  w^liich 
was  then  the  extreme  frontier.  At  Dubuque,  the  In- 
dians held  possession  of  their  mines,  and  watched  all 
who  visited  them  with  a  jealous  eye. 

After  the  steamer  had  passed  the  mouth  of  the  Tjpper 
Iowa,  a  grand  illumination  greeted  the  appearance  of 
the  "  great  fire  canoe,"  as  it  glided  along  the  confines 
of  Mimiesota.  An  eye-witness  writes:  "It  was  per- 
fectly dark,  and  we  were  at  the  mouth  of  the  river 
loway,  when  we  saw  at  a  great  distance  all  the  com- 
bined images  of  the  infernal  regions  in  full  perfection. 
I  was  on  the  point  of  exclaiming  with  Michael  Angelo, 
'  How  terrible !  but  yet  how  beautiful !' 


invited  him  to  his  house  to  remain 
as  long  as  he  pleased,  and  he  was 
with  them  several  months.  He 
could  not  speak  English,  but  spoke 
French  fluently,  and  seemed  much 
pleased  when  he  found  his  fair 
hostess  could  speak  the  language, 
she  having  learned  it  when  a  child  at 
St.  Louis.  A  French  school  was 
the  first  she  ever  attended,  and  she 
thus  early  acquired  a  perfectly  cor- 
rect pronunciation.  She  lamented 
on  one  occasion  to  Mr.  Beltrami, 
that  her  teacher  had  received  his 
discharge,  and  was  about  leaving, 
and  he  politely  offered  his  services 
in  that  capacity.  She  was  then 
translating  the  life  of  Caesar  in  an 
abridged  furm,  and  from  the  emotion 
betrayed  by  the  fureigner  at  a  por- 
tion of  the  reading,  it  was  concluded 
he  had  been  banished  from  the 
Pope's  dominions  at  Rome,  and  that 
the  lesson  reminded  him  of  his  mis- 


fortunes. The  passport  he  showed, 
gave  him  the  title  of  '  Le  Chevalier 
Count  Beltrami.' 

"When  at  the  fort  he  was  busy  in 
collecting  Indian  curiosities.  One 
day  he  brought  a  Sioux  chief  into 
Mrs.  Snelling's  room,  who  had  on 
his  neck  a  necklace  of  bears'  claws 
highly  polished,  saying,  '  I  cannot 
tempt  this  chief  to  part  with  his 
necklace ;  pray  see  what  you  can  do 
with  him,  he  will  not  refuse  you.' 
'  He  wears  it,'  answered  the  ladj-, 
as  a  trophy  of  his  prowess,  and  a 
badge  of  honour ;  however,  I  will 
try.'  After  some  time,  Wanata  said, 
'  On  one  condition  I  will  consent :  if 
you  will  cut  off  your  hair,  braid  it, 
and  let  it  take  the  place  of  mine,  you 
may  have  the  necklace.'  All  laugh- 
ed heartily  at  the  contrivance  to  get 
rid  of  further  importunity." — Mrs. 
Snelling's  Reminiscences  in  "  Pio- 
neer Wotnen  of  the  West." 


336  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

'•'The  venerable  trees  of  these  eternal  forests  were 
on  fire,  Avhich  had  communicated  to  the  grass  and 
brushwood,  and  these  had  been  borne  by  a  violent  north- 
west wind  to  the  adjacent  plains  and  valleys.  The 
flames  towering  above  the  tops  of  the  hills  where  the 
wind  raged  with  most  violence,  gave  them  the  appear- 
ance of  volcanoes  at  the  moment  of  their  most  terrific 
eruptions ;  and  the  fire,  winding  in  its  descent  through 
places  covered  with  grass,  exhibited  an  exact  resem- 
blance to  the  undulating  lava  of  Etna  or  Vesuvius. 
Almost  all  night  we  travelled  by  the  light  of  this  su- 
perb torch." 

The  arrival  of  the  Virginia  at  Mendota,  is  an  era  in 
the  history  of  the  Dahkotah  nation,  and  will  probably 
he  transmitted  to  their  posterity  as  long  as  they  exist 
as  a  people.  They  say  that  some  of  their  sacred  men, 
the  night  before,  dreamed  of  seeing  some  monster  of 
the  waters,  which  frightened  them  very  much. 

As  the  boat  neared  the  shore,  men,  women,  and 
children  beheld  with  silent  astonishment,  supposing 
that  it  was  somte  enormous  water  spirit  coughing,  puff- 
ing out  hot  breath,  and  splashing  water  in  every  direc- 
tion. When  it  touched  the  landing  their  fears  prevailed, 
and  they  retreated  some  distance,  but  when  the  blowing 
off  of  steam  commenced  they  were  completely  unnerved : 
mothers  forgetting  their  children,  with  streaming  hair, 
sought  hiding-places  ;  chiefs,  renouncing  their  stoicism, 
scampered  away  like  affrighted  animals. 

The  peace  agreement  between  the  Ojibways  and 
Dahkotahs,  made  through  the  influence  of  Governor 
Cass,  was  of  brief  duration,  the  latter  being  the  first  to 
violate  the  provisions. 


TALIAFERRO,  UNITED  STATES  AGENT  FOR  DAHKOTAHS.   337 

On  the  fourth  of  June,  Taliaferro,^  the  Indian  agent 
among  the  Dahkotahs,  took  advantage  of  the  presence 
of  a  large  number  of  Ojibways  to  renew  the  agreement 
for  the  cessation  of  hostilities.  The  council  hall  of  the 
agent  was  a  large  room  of  logs,  in  which  waved  con- 
spicuously the  flag  of  the  United  States,  surrounded  by 


*  Mr.  Taliaferro  was  the  first  Indian 
agent  in  Minnesota,  and  what  is  re- 
markable, he  held  the  office  for 
twenty-one  years.  Having  left  the 
country  in  1840,  he  visited  it  in  1856, 
and  contributed  the  annexed  reminis- 
cences to  the  Pioneer  and  Democrat 
newspaper,  published  at  St.  Paul : — 

"It  may  not  be  deemed  out  of  place 
at  this  period  in  the  rapid  and  un- 
precedented growth  of  cities,  towns, 
hamlets,  and  population  in  Minne- 
sota, to  refer  to,  and  present  date  in 
reference  to  some  of  the  historical 
i-eminiscences  of  the  past. 

"  There  were  two  expeditions  or- 
ganized— that  for  the '  Yellow  Stone,' 
in  1818,  under  Colonel  Atkinson, 
and  the  second  in  1819,  under  Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Leavenworth,  of  the 
Fifth  Infantry,  to  the  Falls  of  St. 
Anthony,  which  latter  expedition 
cantoned  at  the  entry  of  the  river  St. 
Peter's,  and  their  first  monthly  report 
was  dated  September  thirtieth,  1819. 
The  object  of  these  military  move- 
ments during  the  administration  of 
President  Monroe,  was  to  open  the 
country  to  the  fur  trade,  and  extend 
protection  to  our  hitherto  defenceless 
frontiers,  north  and  west.  Your  hum- 
ble writer  was  selected  by  the  presi- 
dent from  the  army,  on  the  twenty- 
seventh  of  Marcli,  1S19,  and  appoint- 
ed the  pioneer  Agent  for  Indian  Af- 
22 


fairs  for  the  North-west,  and  estab- 
lished his  agency  near  the  Minnesota, 
and  continued  his  arduous,  delicate, 
and  responsible  duties  under  several 
successive  administrations  of  the  Ge- 
neral Government,  down  to  the  year 
1840,  when — though  appointed  for 
the  sixth  term — he  declined  longer  ser- 
vice, from  a  rapid  decline  in  health. 
"  In  the  summer  of  the  year  1820, 
Colonel  Snelling relieved  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Leavenworth  from  the  com- 
mand of  what  was  then  called  '  Fort 
St.  Anthony,'  though  not  a  stone 
had  been  set  for  the  permanent  work. 
This  was  left  for  the  action  of  the 
gallant  Snelling,  who,  as  acting  As- 
sistant Quartermaster,  set  all  hands 
at  work,  and  laid  the  corner  stone  of 
Fort  Snelling  on  the  tenth  day  of 
September,  1820,  with  due  ceremo- 
nies, in  presence  of  the  civil  and 
military  officers  of  the  post  and 
several  citizens.  It  is  known  that 
in  1805,  Pike  procured  from  the 
Sioux  (the  chief,  '  Little  Crow' 
being  present)  a  cession  of  nine  by 
eighteen  miles,  wintered  his  men 
below  the  Sauk  Rapids,  and  returned 
to  St.  Louis  in  the  spring  of  1806. 
In  excavating  the  foundation  of  the 
circular  battery  in  rear  of  the  com- 
manding officer's  quarters,  at  the 
foot  of  a  small  oak  tree,  a  workman 
found  a  black  bottle,  and  upon  being 


338 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


British  colours  and  medals  that  had  been  delivered  up 
from  time  to  time  by  Indian  chiefs. 

Among  the  Dahkotah  chiefs  present  were  Wapashaw, 
Little  Crow,  and  Penneshaw ;  of  the  Ojibways  there 
were  Kendoiiswa,  Moshomene,  and  Pasheskonoepe. 
After  mutual  accusations  and  excuses  concerning  the 


placed  in  the  hands  of  Colonel 
Snelling  it  was  found  to  contain  a 
synopsis  of  the  grant  made  to  the 
United  States  by  the  Indians. 

"  To  recount  all  those  thrilling  inci- 
dents, which  occurred  in  the  course 
of  the  first  twenty-one  years  on  this 
then  remote  frontier,  would  fill  a  vol- 
ume from  our  seventeen  manuscript 
journals,  in  the  hands  of  a  ready  wri- 
ter. We  would  remark  upon  the  ever 
memorable  days  the  twenty-seventh 
and  twenty-eighth  of  May,  1827, 
when  the  Sioux,  shortly  after  night- 
fall, fired  into  the  lodges  of  a  party 
of  Chippewas  encamped  below,  and 
in  front  of  the  Agency,  killing  and 
wounding  some  eight  or  nine — and 
for  this  unprovoked  attack  we  caused 
the  offenders  to  be  forthwith  given 
up  for  this  outrage,  and  insult  to  our 
flag  and  neutrality — and  four  Sioux 
were  shot,  within  two  hundred  paces 
from  the  spot  on  which  we  now  pen 
this  sketch  of  facts. 

"  We  thought  nothing  of  taking  a 
crew  of  brave  Medawakantons,  with 
Mr.  Alexander  Farribault  as  a  com- 
panion, and  passing  down  to  Du- 
buque, and  rescuing  a  Yankton  Sioux 
prisoner  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  had 
captured  in  1823, — performing  this 
act  of  humanity  in  a  few  days  ;  evad- 
ing the  vigilance  of  a  party  of  the 
Sac  braves  despatched  to  intercept 


and  cut  us  off.  It  was  a  dangerous 
effort,  but  we  determined  to  risk  our 
lives  to  save  that  of  a  human  being, 
and  we  landed  safely  at  St.  Peter's, 
and  in  due  season,  despatched  her 
off  safely  to  her  friends  and  family 
on  the  Des  Moines. 

"  Some  are  curious  to  learn  how 
certain  locations  received  designated 
names.  Minnehaha  was  first  indi- 
cated as  the  Little  Falls,  then  as 
Brown's  Falls,  in  honour  of  Major 
General  Brown.  Lake  Calhoun  for 
the  distinguished  Secretary  at  the 
head  of  the  War  Department,  and 
other  smaller  lakes,  Harriet,  Eliza. 
Abigail,  Lucy,  &c.,  after  the  ladies 
of  the  civil  and  military  officers  of 
the  post. 

"  The  first  measured  distance  from 
Fort  Snelling  to  Fort  Crawford 
(Prairie  du  Chien),  was  measured  in 
FebriULry,  1822,  by  Quartermaster 
Sergeant  Heckle,  with  a  perambula- 
tor on  a  wheel,  which  reported  the 
distance  by  a  sharp  crackling  every 
few  hundred  yards  ;  it  was  invented 
by  this  good  old  German  soldier. 
The  distance  was  204  miles. 

"  Could  we  write  without  the  use 
of  the  personal  pronoun,  a  more  con- 
nected history  of  former  years  might 
be  noted ;  but  in  conclusion,  it  is  due 
the  Sioux  of  your  territory  to  record 
one  fact  as  to  them,  and  that  is,  from 


"FLAT  MOUTH"  AT  FORT  SNELLING.  339 

infraction  of  the  previous  treaty,  the  Dahkotahs  lighted 
the  calumet,  they  having  been  the  first  to  infringe  upon 
the  agreement  of  1820.  After  smoking,  and  passing  the 
pipe  of  peace  to  the  Ojibways,  who  passed  through  the 
same  formalities,  they  all  shook  hands  as  a  pledge  of 
renewed  amity. 

The  morning  after  the  council.  Flat  Mouth,  the  dis- 
tinguished Ojibway  chief,  arrived,  who  had  left  his  lodge 
vowing  that  he  would  never  be  at  peace  with  the  Dah- 
kotahs. As  he  stepped  from  his  canoe,  Penneshaw  held 
out  his  hand,  but  was  repulsed  with  scorn.  The  Dah- 
kotah  warrior  immediately  gave  the  alarm,  and  in  a 
moment  runners  were  on  their  way  to  the  neighbour- 
ing villages  to  raise  a  war  party. 

On  the  sixth  of  June,  the  Dahkotahs  had  assembled, 
stripped  for  a  fight,  and  surrounded  the  Ojibways.  The 
latter,  expecting  the  worst,  concealed  their  women  and 
children  behind  the  old  barracks  which  had  been  used 
by  the  troops  while  the  fort  was  being  erected.  At  the 
solicitation  of  the  agent  and  commander  of  the  fort,  the 
Dahkotahs  desisted  from  an  attack  and  retired. 

On  the  seventh,  the  Ojibways  left  for  their  homes; 
but,  in  a  few  hours,  while  they  were  making  a  portage 
at  St.  Anthony,  they  were    again  apj)roached  by  the 

the  commencement  of  our  agency  to  twenty-fourth  of  June,  the  '  widow's 

its  close,  our  frontier  pioneers  were  son'  was  Irving's  Rip  Van  Winkle ; 

never  even  molested  in  their  homes,  after  a  nap  of  fifteen  years,  we  awoke 

nor  did  they  shed  one  drop  of  Amer-  in   the   midst   of  fast    times.     We 

ican    blood  ;   while  the   Chippewas,  truly  felt  bewildered  when  we  found 

Winnebagoes,  and  Sacs  and  Foxes,  all  the  haunts  and  resting-places  of 

were  in  the  yearly  habit  of  the  most  the  once  noble  sons  of  the  forest, 

revolting  and   foul   murders  on  all  covered  by  cities,  towns,  and  hamlets, 

who  unfortunately  fell  in  their  war  We  asked  but  few  questions,  being 

path.  to  our  mind  received   as  a  strange 

"  "We  were  in   St.   Paul  on   the  animal,  if  nothing  worse.'' 


340  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

Dalikotalis,  who  would  have  attacked  them,  if  a  detach- 
ment of  troops  had  not  arrived  from  the  fort. 

A  rumour  reaching  Penneshaw's  village  that  he  had 
been  killed  at  the  falls,  his  mother  seized  an  Ojibway 
maiden,  who  had  been  a  captive  from  infancy,  and,  with 
a  tomahawk,  cut  her  in  two.  Upon  the  return  of  the 
son  in  safety  he  was  much  gratified  at  ^  what  he  con- 
sidered the  prowess  of  his  parent. 


LONG'S  EXPLORATION  OF  MINNESOTA  RIVER.  341 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

The  interesting  information  procured  by  the  expedi- 
tion of  Lewis  and  Clarke  to  the  tributaries  of  the  Mis- 
souri and  Rocky  Mountains,  and  that  of  Governor  Cass 
through  the  north-eastern  district  of  Minnesota,  induced 
the  United  States  government  to  send  an  expedition  to 
explore  the  Minnesota  river,  and  the  country  situated 
on  the  northern  boundary  of  the  United  States  between 
the  Red  river  of  Hudson's  Bay,  and  Lake  Superior. 

The  command  of  the  expedition  was  intrusted  to 
Major  Stephen  H.  Long,  and  the  scientific  corps  attached 
were  Thomas  Say,  zoologist  and  antiquary,  William 
H.  Keating,  mineralogist  and  geologist,  Samuel  Sey- 
mour, landscape  painter  and  designer.  Late  at  night, 
on  the  second  of  July,  1823,  they  arrived  at  Mendota 
opposite  the  fort,  and  slept  in  the  open  air. 

On  the  morning  of  the  third,  Colonel  Snelling  and 
the  five  companies  of  the  5th  Infantry,  within  the  fort, 
were  much  surprised  by  the  appearance  of  the  exploring 
party ;  and,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  ninth  of  July,  they 
commenced  the  exploration  of  the  valley  of  the  Min- 
nesota. 

Joseph  Renville,  a  bois  brul^,  after  whom  one  of  the 
counties  of  the  state  is  named,  acted  as  interpreter  and 


342  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

guide;  and  Joseph,  a  son  of  Colonel  Snelling,  was 
assistant  interpreter,  and  Beltrami,  the  Italian  refugee, 
was  permitted  to  accompany  the  party.  To  make  the 
examination  as  accurate  as  possible,  a  portion  proceeded 
by  land,  and  a  portion  in  canoes.  On  the  first  evening 
the  river  detachment  encamped  near  Oanoska,  the  vil- 
lage known  as  Black  Dog's.  The  next  morning  they 
breakfasted  at  Penneshaw's.  At  dinner  time  they  were 
at  Shokpay,  called  by  the  French  Prairie  des  Frangais ; 
this,  as  well  as  the  other  villages,  was  tenantless,  the 
inhabitants  being  absent  on  a  hunt. 

On  the  fourteenth,  at  Traverse  des  Sioux,  the  land 
and  river  detachments  met,  and  after  a  reduction  of  the 
number  of  soldiers  they  united  and  proceeded  by  land, 
having  in  possession  twenty-one  horses.  They  travelled 
on  the  south  side  of  the  Minnesota,  and  at  the  moiith 
of  the  Mahkahto  passed  the  residence  of  the  Sissetoan 
band,  one  of  whose  number,  in  1820,  had  been  sent  to 
St.  Louis  to  be  tried  for  murdering  a  white  man. 

On  the  twenty-second  they  arrived  at  Big  Stone  Lake, 
which  is  considered  the  source  of  the  Minnesota.  Fol- 
lowing up  the  bed  of  a  dried-up  stream,  they  found 
Lake  Traverse,  three  miles  distant.  Here  they  were 
impressed  by  beholding  within  sight  the  sources  of  two 
vast  streams,  the  one  discharging  its  waters  in  Hudson's 
Bay,  the  other  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  At  Big  Stone 
Lake,  for  the  first  time  since  leaving  the  fort,  they  dis- 
covered a  large  party  of  Dahkotahs,  and,  by  invitation, 
the  expedition  visited  their  lodges  at  the  lower  end  of 
the  lake.  Upon  an  island  in  the  lake  this  band  culti- 
vated corn.  After  being  feasted,  the  party  proceeded  in 
the  afternoon  to  a  trading  post  of  the  American  Fur 
Company,  in  charge  of  Mr.   Moore,  where  presents  of 


WAHNAHTAH'S  APPEARANCE  AND  CHARACTER.  343 

tobacco  were  distributed.  The  traders  of  the  Columbia 
Fur  Company,  at  Lake  Traverse,  received  the  party 
with  a  salute,  and  exhibited  the  most  hospitable  dis- 
position. Keating,  the  historian  of  the  expedition, 
remarks  : — 

"  The  principal  interest  which  we  experienced  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Lake  Travers,  was  from  an  acquaint- 
ance with  Wanotan,^  the  most  distinguished  chief  of  the 
Yanktoanan  tribe,  which,  as  we  were  informed,  is  sub- 
divided into  six  bands.  He  is  one  of  the  greatest  men 
of  the  Dahkotah  nation,  and  although  but  twenty-eight 
years  of  age,  he  has  already  acquired  great  renown  as 
a  warrior.  At  the  early  age  of  eighteen,  he  exhibited 
much  valour  in  the  war  against  the  Americans,  and 
was  wounded  several  times.  He  was  then  inexperi- 
enced and  served  under  his  father,  who  was  chief  of  his 
tribe,  and  bore  a  mortal  enmity  to  the  Americans. 
Wanotan  has  since  learned  to  form  a  better  estimate  of 
our  nation.  He  is  aware  that  it  is  the  interest  of  his 
people  to  remain  at  peace  with  us,  and  would,  probably, 
in  case  of  another  war  between  the  United  States  and 
England,  take  part  with  the  former.  Those  who  know 
him  well,  commend  his  sagacit}^  and  judgment,  as  well 
as  his  valour.  He  is  a  tall  man,  being  upwards  of  six 
feet  high;  his  countenance  would  be  esteemed  hand- 
some in  any  country;  his  features  being  regular  and 
well  shaped.  There  is  an  intelligence  that  beams 
thn)ugh  his  eye,  which  is  not  the  usual  concomitant  of 
Indian  features.  His  manners  are  dignified  and  re- 
served ;  his  attitudes  are  graceful  and  easy,  though  they 
appear  to  be  somewhat  studied.     When  speaking  of  the 

^  This  chief's  name  is  spelled  Wahnahtah,  Wanata,  Wanotan. 


344  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

Dalikotalis,  we  purposely  postponed  mentioning  the  fre- 
quent vows  which  they  make,  and  their  strict  adherence 
to  them,  because,  one  of  the  best  evidences  which  we 
have  collected  on  this  point,  connects  itself  with  the 
character  of  Wanotan,  and  may  give  a  favourable  idea 
of  his  extreme  fortitude  in  enduring  pain.  In  the  sum- 
mer of  1822,  he  undertook  a  journey,  from  which,  ap- 
prehending much  danger  on  the  part  of  the  Chippewas, 
he  made  a  vow  to  the  vSun,  that,  if  he  returned  safe,  he 
would  abstain  from  all  food  or  drink,  for  the  space  of 
four  successive  days  and  nights,  and  that  he  would  dis- 
tribute among  his  people  all  the  property  which  he  p6s- 
sessed,  including  all  his  lodges,  horses,  dogs,  etc.  On  his 
return,  which  happened  without  accident,  he  celebrated 
the  dance  of  the  Sun;  this  consisted  in  making  three 
cuts  through  his  skin,  one  on  his  breast,  and  one  on 
each  of  his  arms.  The  skin  was  cut  in  the  manner  of 
a  loop,  so  as  to  permit  a  rope  to  pass  under  the  strip  of 
skin  and  flesh  which  was  thus  di^dded  from  the  body. 
The  ropes  being  passed  through,  their  ends  were  secured 
to  a  tall  vertical  pole,  planted  at  about  forty  yards  from 
his  lodge.  He  then  began  to  dance  round  this  pole,  at 
the  commencement  of  his  fast,  frequently  swinging  him- 
self in  the  air,  so  as  to  be  supported  merely  by  the  cords 
which  were  secured  to  the  strips  of  skin  cut  off  from 
his  arms  and  breast.  He  continued  this  exercise  with 
few  intermissions,  during  the  whole  of  his  fast,  until  the 
fourth  day  about  ten  o'clock,  A.  M.,  when  the  strip  of 
skin  from  his  breast  gave  way.  Notwithstanding  which, 
he  interrupted  not  his  dance,  although  supported  merely 
by  his  arms.  At  noon  the  strip  from  his  left  arm 
snapped  off.  His  uncle  then  thought  that  he  had  suf- 
fered enough ;  he  drew  his  knife  and  cut  off  the  skin 


WAHNAHTAH'S  SUN  DANCE.  345 

from  his  right  arm,  upon  which  Wanotan  fell  to  the 
ground  and  swooned.  The  heat  at  the  time  was  ex- 
treme. He  was  left  exposed  in  that  state  to  the  sun 
until  night,  when  his  friends  brought  him  some  pro- 
visions. After  the  ceremony  was  over,  he  distributed 
to  them  the  whole  of  his  property,  among  which  were 
five  fine  horses,  and  he  and  his  two  squaws  left  his 
lodge,  abandoning  every  article  of  their  furniture. 

'•  As  we  appeared  upon  the  brow  of  the  hill  which 
commands  the  company's  fort,  a  salute  was  fired  from  a 
number  of  Indian  tents  which  were  pitched  in  the  vi- 
cinity, from  the  largest  of  which  the  American  colours 
were  flying.  And  as  soon  as  we  had  dismounted  from 
our  horses,  we  received  an  invitation  to  a  feast  which 
Wanotan  had  prepared  for  us.  The  gentlemen  of  the 
company  informed  us  that  as  soon  as  the  Indians  had 
heard  of  our  contemplated  visit,  they  had  commenced 
their  preparations  for  a  festival,  and  that  they  had  killed 
three  of  their  dogs.  We  repaired  to  a  sort  of  pavilion 
which  they  had  erected  by  the  union  of  several  large 
s«kin  lodges.  Fine  buffalo  robes  were  spread  all  around, 
and  the  air  was  perfumed  hy  the  odour  of  sweet  scent- 
ing grass  which  had  been  burned  in  it.  On  entering 
the  lodge  we  saw  the  chief  seated  near  the  further  end 
of  it,  and  one  of  his  principal  men  pointed  out  to  us  the 
place  which  was  destined  for  our  accommodation :  it 
was  at  the  upper  end  of  the  lodge;  the  Indians  who 
were  in  it  taking  no  further  notice  of  us.  These  con- 
sisted of  the  chief,  his  son,  a  lad  about  eight  years  old, 
and  eight  or  ten  of  the  principal  warriors.  The  chief's 
dress  presented  a  mixture  of  the  European  and  abori- 
ginal costume ;  he  wore  moccasins  and  leggings  of  splen- 
did scarlet  cloth,  a  blue  breech-cloth,  a  fine  shirt  of 


316  niSTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

printed  muslin,  over  this  a  frock  coat  of  fine  blue  cloth 
with  scarlet  facings,  somewhat  similar  to  the  undress 
uniform  coat  of  a  Prussian  officer ;  tliis  was  buttoned  and 
secured  round  his  waist  by  a  belt.  Upon  his  head  he 
wore  a  blue  cloth  cap,  made  like  a  German  fatigue  cap. 
A  very  handsome  Mackinaw  blanket,  slightly  ornar 
mented  with  paint,  was  thrown  over  his  person.  His  son, 
whose  features  strongly  favoured  those  of  his  father,  wore 
a  dress  somewhat  similar,  except  that  his  coat  was  party- 
coloured,  one  half  being  made  of  blue,  and  the  other 
half  of  scarlet  cloth.  He  wore  a  round  hat,  with  a 
plated  silver  band,  and  a  large  cockade.  From  his 
neck  were  suspended  several  silver  medals,  doubtless 
presents  to  his  father.  This  lad  appeared  to  be  a  great 
favourite  of  Wanotan's,  who  seems  to  mdulge  him  more 
than  is  customary  for  the  Indians  to  do.  As  soon  as 
we  had  taken  our  seats,  the  chief  passed  his  pipe  round, 
and  while  we  were  engaged  in  smoking,  two  of  the  In- 
dians arose  and  uncovered  the  large  kettles  which  were 
standing  over  the  fire,  they  emptied  their  contents  into 
a  dozen  of  wooden  dishes  which  were  placed  all  round 
the  lodge.  These  consisted  of  bufialo  meat  boiled  with 
tepsin,  also  the  same  vegetable  boiled  without  the  meat, 
in  bufialo  grease,  and  finally,  the  much  esteemed  dog 
meat,  all  which  were  dressed  without  salt.  In  compli- 
ance with  the  established  usage  of  travellers  to  taste 
of  everything,  we  all  partook  of  the  latter  with  a  mixed 
feeling  of  curiosity  and  reluctance.  Could  we  have 
divested  ourselves  entirely  of  the  prejudices  of  educa- 
tion, we  should  doubtless  have  unhesitatingly  acknow- 
ledged this  to  be  among  the  best  meat  that  we  had  ever 
eaten.  It  was  remarkably  fat,  was  sweet  and  palatable. 
It  had  none  of  that  dry,  stringy  character,  which  we 


MAJOR  LONG  RELISHES  DOG  MEAT.  347 

had  expected,  to  find  in  it,  and  it  was  entirely  destitute 
of  the  strong  taste  which  we  had  apprehended  that  it 
possessed.  It  was  not  an  unusual  appetite,  or  the  want 
of  good  meat  to  compare  with  it,  which  led  us  to  form 
this  favourable  opinion  of  the  dog,  for  we  had,  on  the 
same  dish,  the  best  meat  which  our  prairies  afford ;  but 
so  strongly  rooted  are  the  prejudices  of  education,  that, 
though  we  all  unaffectedly  admitted  the  excellence  of 
this  food,  yet  few  of  us  could  be  induced  to  eat  much 
of  it.  We  were  warned  by  our  trading  friends  that  the 
bones  of  this  animal  are  treated  with  great  respect  by 
the  Dahkotahs ;  we  therefore  took  great  care  to  replace 
them  in  the  dishes;  and  we  are  informed  that,  after 
such  a  feast  is  concluded,  the  bones  are  carefully  col- 
lected, the  flesh  scraped  off  from  them,  and  that,  after 
being  washed,  they  are  buried  in  the  ground,  partly,  as 
it  is  said,  to  testify  to  the  dog  species,  that  in  feasting 
upon  one  of  their  number,  no  disrespect  was  meant  to 
the  species  itself;  and  partly  also  from  a  belief  that  the 
bones  of  the  animal  will  rise  and  reproduce  another 
one.  The  meat  of  this  animal,  as  we  saw  it,  was 
thought  to  resemble  that  of  the  finest  Welsh  mutton, 
except  that  it  was  of  a  much  darker  colour.  Having 
so  far  overcome  our  repugnance  as  to  taste  of  it,  we  no 
longer  wonder  that  the  dog  should  be  considered  a 
dainty  dish  by  those  in  whom  education  has  not  created 
a  prejudice  against  this  flesh.  In  China  it  is  said  that 
fattened  pups  are  frequently  sold  in  the  market  place ; 
and  it  appears  that  the  invitation  to  a  feast  of  dog  meat 
is  the  greatest  distinction  that  can  be  offered  to  a 
stranger  by  any  of  the  Indian  nations  east  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains." 

On  the  morning  of  the  fifth  of  August,  the  expedi- 


348  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

tion  arrived  at  Pembina,  a  coiTuption  of  Anepeminan, 
an  Ojibway  word/  and  were  kindly  received  by  Mr. 
Nolen.  This  had  been  the  upper  settlement  of  the 
Selkirk  colony,  and  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  had 
maintained  a  post  here  until  a  few  months  before  the 
vii^iit  of  Major  Long.  Observations  made  by  their  own 
astronomers,  Ted  to  the  supposition  that  it  was  within 
the  American  boundary  line.  At  the  time  of  the  ex- 
ploration, there  were  about  three  hundred  and  fifty  half- 
breeds  residing  in  fifty  or  sixty  log  huts. 

The  next  day  after  the  arrival  of  the  expedition,  the 
buffalo  hunters  returned  from  the  chase.  "  The  proces- 
sion consisted  of  one  hundred  and  fifteen  carts,  each 
loaded  with  about  eight  hundred  pounds  of  the  finest 
buffalo  meat ;  there  were  three  hundred  persons  includ- 
ing the  women."  The  number  of  horses  was  about  two 
hundred.  Twenty  hunters  mounted  on  their  best  steeds 
rode  in  abreast,  firing  a  salute  as  they  passed  the  Ame- 
rican camp. 

Major  Long  and  his  party  remained  several  days,  de- 
termining the  boundary  line  of  the  United  States.  "A 
flag-staff*  was  planted,  which  after  a  series  of  observations, 
made  during  four  days,  was  determined  to  be  in  latitude 
48°  59'  573",  north.  The  distance  to  the  boundary  line 
was  measured  off",  and  an  oak  post  fixed  on  it,  bearing 
on  the  north  side  the  letters  G.  B.,  and  on  the  south  side 
those  of  U.  S." 

On  the  eighth  of  August  the  United  States  flag  was 
hoisted  on  the  staff",  a  national  salute  fired,  and  a  pro- 
clamation made  in  the  presence  of  all  the  inhabitants, 
that  all  the  country  on  the  Red  river,  above  that  point, 

^  Pronounced  as  if  written  Pembin-  known  to  botanists  as  Viburnim 
naw.     Anepeminan,  is  a  red  berry,     oxycoccos. 


JOHN  TANNER  SHOT.  349 

was  within  the  territory  of  the  United  States.  As  far 
as  practicable  the  expedition  commenced  their  return, 
along  the  northern  boundary  Une  of  what  is  now  Min- 
nesota. At  Kainy  Lake  they  found  John  Tanner,  of 
whom  mention  has  been  made  in  another  chapter,  and  the 
father  of  that  erratic  bois  brule  James  Tanner,  so  well 
known  to  the  older  residents  of  Minnesota,  severely 
wounded,  and  in  a  tent  attended  by  two  half-breed 
daughters.  An  Indian  had  shot  him,  and  the  ball  had 
passed  through  the  right  arm  and  breast.  At  his  re- 
quest he  was  transferred  to  the  camp  of  the  expedition. 
The  evening  preceding  the  departure  from  Rainy  Lake, 
his  daughters  went  over  to  the  Hudson  Bay  trading- 
post,  to  visit  an  old  half-breed  woman ;  but  the}'  never 
returned.  All  efforts  to  find  them  were  unavailing,  and 
the  father,  who  was  taking  them  to  Mackinaw,  to  attend 
a  mission  school,  seemed  much  distressed.  After  travel- 
Img  a  few  miles  with  the  party,  the  pain  from  his  wounds 
was  so  great,  that  it  was  necessary  to  leave  him  in  the 
care  of  one  of  the  employees  of  the  trading-post.  It  is 
a  little  remarkable  that  Tanner  should  also  have  disap- 
peared as  mysteriously  as  his  daughters.* 

At  Pembina,  Joseph  Snelling  left  the  expedition  and 
returned  to  the  fort,  his  services  as  mterpreter  not  being 
needed  beyond  that  point. 

Beltrami,  the  Italian,  who  had  become  obnoxious, 
also  detached  himself,  and  conceived  the  bold  project 
of  striking  for  the  most  northern  jDoint  of  the  Mississippi 
river.    With  a  "  bois  ]jrul6,"  a  mule,  dog  train,  and  two 

*  It  is  said  that,  on  the  day  Mr.  and  Tanner  disappeared.     If  rightly 

Schoolcraft's     brother    was     found  informed,  he  had   not  long  before 

killed  at   Sault  St.  Marie,  the  log  threatened  Mr.  Schoolcraft, 
cabin  of  Tanner  was  burned  down, 


350  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

Ojibways  who  were  going  to  Red  Lake  to  raise  a  war 
party  to  avenge  the  death  of  a  companion  who  had  been 
murdered  by  the  Dahkotahs,  he  commenced  his  adven- 
turous journey. 

On  the  fifth  day  they  arrived  at  Thief  river,  so  called, 
it  is  said,  from  a  Dahkotah  who  for  years  lurked  in  the 
marshes,  robbing  and  scalping  his  foes  as  they  would 
pass  alone.  At  this  point  the  half-breed  returned  with 
the  mule  and  train  to  Pembina ;  and  the  Italian,  finding 
no  trading  post  here  as  anticipated,  was  obliged  to  pro- 
ceed with  the  two  Ojibways. 

There  is  much  egotism  and  gasconade  in  the  writings 
of  Beltrami,  but  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the  Italian 
w'as  the  first  to  make  known  to  the  world  the  most 
northern  source  of  the  Mississippi,  and  the  region  around 
Red  Lake. 

As  the  work  written  by  this  foreigner  is  little  known, 
and  not  accessible  to  the  general  reader,  large  extracts 
will  be  given  from  his  letters  to  a  lady  whom  he  addresses 
as  the  Countess  : — 

"  I  had  been  informed  at  Pembenar  that  a  number 
of  Bois-hruiUs  had  proceeded  to  this  confluence  in  order 
to  erect  huts  for  their  winter-hunting  establishment,  and 
that  some  one  of  them  would  certainly  be  able  to  accom- 
pany me,  and  act  as  my  interpreter,  as  far  as  Red  Lake ; 
and,  if  I  desired  it,  still  farther;  but  we  found  none 
there.  The  Cypowais  had  driven  them  away,  as  we 
were  informed  by  one  of  the  latter,  and  they  were  gone 
to  establish  themselves  about  a  hundred  miles  lower 
down.  On  the  other  hand,  my  interpreter  from  Pem- 
benar could  not  possibly  continue  with  me  :  besides  his 
having  to  conduct  back  the  mule,  other  powerful  reasons 
operated  to  prevent  him,     I  was  therefore  compelled  to 


BELTRAMI  VISITS  RED  LAKE.  351 

decide ;  and  I  delivered  myself  over  to  the  care  of  my 
two  Indians. 

"  We  had  not  again  proceeded  up  the  river  more 
than  two  miles  before  they  stopped,  and  presented  an 
offering  of  dry  provisions  and  tobacco  to  Mlciliki,  the 
Manitou  of  AVaters.  This  was  a  stake  painted  red. 
and  fixed  under  a  kind  of  sacellum,  like  those  of  anti- 
quity, and  the  ceremony  is  by  no  means  modern.  They 
were,  for  this  once,  more  generous  towards  their  deities 
than  Indians  in  such  circumstances  generally  are :  the 
reason  is,  that  their  offering  was  at  my  expense. 

"  The  frequent  rapids  which  we  had  met  with  in  the 
course  of  five  or  six  miles,  and  which  had  compelled  us 
to  walk  continually  in  the  water,  and  over  pointed  and 
cutting  rocks,  in  order  to  preserve  our  canoe  from 
injury,  had  very  much  fatigued  us,  and  our  aj^petite 
also  induced  us  to  make  a  halt :  we  accordingly  did  so, 
and,  after  eating  my  repast,  I  went  to  sleep  beneath  a 
tree,  recommending  myself  to  the  care  of  Providence. 

"  I  was  awakened  by  discharges  of  fire-arms,  and,  on 
starting  up,  perceived  five  or  six  Indians  on  the  oppo- 
site bank  of  the  river,  apparently  desirous  to  cross  it. 
On  seeing  me  they  seemed  struck  mth  astonishment 
and  terror,  and  fled  with  precipitation ;  one  of  our  In- 
dians was  wounded.  Those  who  had  fired  at  them 
were  Sioux.  I  was  already  known  among  the  Indians 
of  that  nation  as  the  Tonka-Wasci-cio-honsca,  or  the 
Great  Chief  from  a  far  country ;  and  my  tall  stature 
and  noble  horse  had  rendered  me  the  more  remarked 
by  them,  as  these  are  two  things  of  which  they  are 
extreme  admirers.  When  they  again  saw  me  on  this 
spot,  they  concluded  that  the  whole  expedition  was 
there,  and  fled  with  all  haste  for  fear  of  being  recog- 


352  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

nised.  This  was  the  idea  that  first  presented  itself  to 
my  mind,  and  I  instantly  acted  upon  it.  We  jumped 
immediately  into  our  canoe ;  I  performed  to  the  best  of 
my  power  the  labours  of  the  wounded  Indian,  who  had 
his  left  arm  shot  completely  through,  and  his  right 
shoulder  grazed.  The  ball,  however,  had  not  touched 
the  bone  of  the  arm,  and  the  wound  in  the  shoulder 
had  injured  only  the  integuments.  The  juice  of  some 
boiled  roots  was  applied  as  the  healmg  balsam ;  the 
down  of  a  swan-skin,  which  I  had  purchased  at  Pem- 
benar,  was  substituted  for  Imt,  my  handkerchief  served 
for  a  bandage,  and  the  bark  of  a  tree  called  owigohinigy, 
or  white  wood,  answered  the  purpose  of  securing  the 
arm  in  a  sling.  We  kept  on  our  course  till  evening, 
and  saw  nothing  more  of  them. 

"  My  intrepid  champions  saw  nothing  but  Sioux. 
The  slightest  sound  from  wind  or  water,  the  shadow  of 
a  tree  or  of  a  rock,  everything  was  the  Sioux.  I  disco- 
vered that  they  were  plotting  against  me,  for  they  care- 
fully avoided  my  looks.  I  had  not  the  slightest  doubt 
that  they  meant  to  leave  me  on  the  spot,  and  deter- 
mined therefore  to  make  them  re-embark,  it  being  more 
easy  to  guard  them  in  the  canoe.  About  midnight  we 
stopped.  I  had  but  little  to  fear,  being  left  without  my 
canoe,  for  I  was  already  well  aware  that  their  intention 
must  be  to  continue  their  course  by  land,  by  a  route 
which  would  conduct  them  in  two  or  three  days  to  Red 
Lake ;  whereas,  were  they  to  proceed  by  the  river  they 
would  require  more  than  six.  However,  I  considered 
that  no  precaution  ought  to  be  neglected  by  me;  I 
therefore  drew  the  canoe  to  land,  and  fastened  it  to  a 
tree  by  a  cord,  one  end  of  which  I  tied  to  my  leg,  and 
then  laid  myself  down  by  the  side  of  them  in  such  a 


BELTRAMI  DESERTED  BY  INDIAN  GUIDES.  353 

manner  that  tliey  could  not  rise,  even  if  I  should  be 
able  to  sleep,  without  waking  me.  These  precautions, 
and  my  musket  and  my  sword  between  my  legs,  ready 
for  immediate  use,  kept  them  quiet  the  whole  night. 

"  On  the  following  morning  they  embarked  without 
difficulty.  But  this  was  only  with  a  view  of  reaching 
a  certain  point,  whence  the  route  by  land  was  shorter.  I 
might  have  used  violence  against  them  if  I  had  <;hosen, 
for  certainly  I  had  no  fear  of  them ;  I  had  even  taken  the 
precaution  of  putting  water  into  their  musket  barrels : 
Ijut  I  should  only  have  exasperated  their  nation,  in  a 
territory  where  it  was  now  absolute  and  despotic,  and 
where  I  could  expect  no  assistance  but  from  my  own 
energies  and  the  care  of  Providence ;  I  therefore  suffered 
them  quietly  to  go  off.  They  intimated  to  me,  what  I 
was  before  well  aware  of,  that  they  were  going  to  leave 
me.  They  invited  me  to  follow  them,  and  to  leave  the 
canoe,  provisions,  and  baggage,  concealed  in  the  brush- 
wood. I  deliberated  with  myself  on  the  subject  for  a 
moment :  I  considered  that  the  river  was  my  best  and 
surest  way,  that  I  was  in  possession  of  a  canoe,  provi- 
sions, a  musket,  a  sword,  and  ammunition  ;  whereas,  by 
accepting  their  invitation,  I  should  be  following  barba- 
rians who  had  the  cowardice  to  abandon  a  stranger,  con- 
fided to  their  guardianship  at  Pembenar  by  their  most 
intimate  friends,  one  who  had  treated  them  as  brothers, 
saved  them  from  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  healed  their 
wounds,  and  assisted  them  kindly  with  all  his  means. 
I  should,  with  wretches  of  this  description,  be  exposing 
myself  in  inextricable  forests,  in  the  midst  of  swamps 
and  lakes,  and  abandoning  to  the  mercy  of  a  thousand 
accidents,  my  baggage,  my  provisions,  and  materials  for 
the  presents,  which  are  indispensable  passports  through 

23 


354  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

a  savage  country.  My  determination,  therefore,  was 
soon  fixed :  after  having  vainly  endeavoured  to  make 
them  comprehend  that  both  Manitous  and  men  would 
punish  such  atrocity,  I  commanded  them  by  words  and 
signs  peremptorily  to  be  gone. 

"  I  imagine,  my  dear  Countess,  that  you  will  feel  the 
frightfulness  of  my  situation  at  this  critical  moment 
more  strongly  than  I  can  express  it.  I  really  can 
scarcely  help  shuddering,  as  well  as  yourself,  whenever 
I  think  of  it.  Fortunately,  I  was  not  at  the  time  over- 
powered and  confounded.  Woe  be  to  us,  if  in  exigen- 
cies like  this,  despair  takes  possessioij  of  our  minds.  In 
that  ca.se  all  is  completely  over  with  us  !*>*-* 

"  The  solitude  I  now  experienced,  which  romance- 
writers  would  not  have  found  so  pleasant  and  delightful 
as  that  which  they  have  been  pleased  to  exhibit  in  their 
fictions,  impressed  me  at  first  Avith  ideas  the  most  dread- 
ful. I  must,  said  I  to  myself,  leave  this  place  some  way 
or  other ;  and  I  jumped  into  my  canoe  and  began  row- 
ing. But  I  was  totally  unacquainted  with  the  almost 
magical  art  by  which  a  single  person  guides  a  canoe, 
and  particularly  a  canoe  formed  of  bark,  the  lightness 
of  which  is  overpowered  by  the  current,  and  the  con- 
duct of  wdiich  requires  extreme  dexterity.  Frequently, 
instead  of  proceeding  up  the  river,  I  descended ;  a  cir- 
cumstance which  by  no  means  shortened  my  voyage. 
Renewed  efforts  made  me  lose  my  equilibrium,  the  canoe 
upset,  and  admitted  a  considerable  quantity  of  water. 
My  whole  cargo  was  whetted,  I  leaped  into  the  water, 
drew  the  canoe  on  land,  and  laid  it  to  drain  with  the 
keel  upwards.  I  then  loaded  it  again,  taking  care  to 
place  the  wetted  part  of  my  effects  uppermost,  to  be 
dried  by  the  sun.     I  then  resumed  my  route. 


BELTRAMI'S  EMBARRASSMENTS.  355 

"  You  sympathize  with  the  embarrassment  in  which 
you  conceive  I  must  have  been  involved,  with  all  my 
difficulties  and  want  of  means  for  continuing  my  course. 
I  bore  all,  however,  Avith  great  philosoph}-,  and  with  a 
resignation  which  I  beheve  you  will  readily  admit  is 
not  very  natural  to  me.  I  could  scarcely  heljD  inces- 
santly smiling.  I  threw  myself  into  the  water  up  to 
my  waist,  and  commenced  a  promenade  of  a  rather  un- 
usual kind,  drawing  the  canoe  after  me  with  a  thong 
from  a  buffalo's  hide,  which  I  had  fastened  to  the  prow. 
The  first  day  of  my  expedition,  the  fifteenth  of  the 
month,  was  employed  in  this  manner,  and  I  did  not 
stop  till  the  evening.         ****** 

"  The  weather  on  the  second  day  of  my  progress  was 
very  disagreeable.  A  storm  which  commenced  before 
mid-day  continued  till  night.  Notwithstandmg  this, 
however,  I  did  not  relax  an  instant  but  to  take  my 
food.  I  saw  the  hand  of  providence  in  the  physical  and 
moral  vigour  which  supported  me  during  this  dreadful 
conflict.  In  the  evening  I  had  no  access  to  a  more  com- 
fortalile  hearth  than  on  the  preceding  one.  My  bear 
skin  and  my  coverlid,  which  constituted  the  whole  of 
my  bed,  were  completely  soaked ;  and,  what  was  worse, 
the  mould  began  to  affect  my  provisions.  I  was  almost 
tempted  to  think  that  it  was  all  over  with  my  pro- 
menades, and  that  I  began  to  travel,  and  that  not  very 
comfortably. 

"On  the  morning  of  the  seventeenth  of  August,  the 
sun's  beams  gilded  the  awful  solitude  by  which  I  was 
surrounded,  and  I  eagerly  availed  myself  of  their  in- 
fluence. I  laid  out  my  provisions,  baggage,  gun,  and 
sword,  and  stretched  myself  also  at  full  length  under 
his   rays.     The   powder,  which  liad   fortunately  been 


SoG  HISTORY  OF  ISIINNESOTA. 

closely  confined  in  tin  canisters,  was  tlie  only  thing  that 
escaped  the  water. 

"  Necessity  makes  man  industrious,  and  the  necessity 
I  was  now  under  to  become  so,  was  great  indeed,  as 
otherwise  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  continue  my  pro- 
gress. The  river  ])ecame  narrower  and  deeper  the 
farther  I  ascended  it,  as  is  the  case  with  all  rivers  origi- 
nating in  lakes.  It  was  thus  absolutely  indispensable 
for  me  to  learn  how  to  guide  the  canoe  with  the  oar. 
I  set  myself,  therefore,  to  study  this  art  in  good  earnest ; 
and  in  the  afternoon,  when  I  struck  my  tent,  I  exerted 
myself  first  to  pass  several  deep  gulfs,  and  afterwards 
to  traverse  short  stages  or  distances  of  the  river ;  but 
the  fatigue  I  endured  was  extreme,  and  I  preferred  re- 
turning to  my  drag-rope  whenever  the  river  permitted 
my  walking  in  it.  As  appearances  seemed  to  threaten 
rain,  I  covered  my  effects  with  my  umbrella,  stuck  into 
the  bottom  of  my  canoe.  It  was  singular  enough  to 
see  them  conveyed  thus  in  the  stately  style  and  manner 
of  China,  Avhile  I  was  myself  condemned  to  travel  in 
that  of  a  galley  slave ;  nor  could  I  help  reflecting  on 
those  unfortunate  victims  of  despotism  which  the  resto- 
ration has  condemned  to  drag  the  vessels  on  the  Dan- 
uIdc.  As  it  was  of  consequence  for  me  to  avail  myself 
of  everything  that  could  promote  cheerfulness  and  keep 
up  my  spirits,  I  could  not  help  smiling,  which  I  am 
sure,  my  dear  Countess,  3'ou  would  yourself  have  done, 
at  the  sight  of  my  grotesque  convoy.  *         *         * 

"  The  morning  of  the  eighteenth  awakened  me  to  my 
active  duties,  and  I  proceeded  in  my  course ;  and  before 
mid-day  fell  in  with  two  canoes  of  Indians.  Being 
alone  in  a  canoe  of  their  nation,  with  three  muskets 
(for  those  of  my  two  Indians  were  in  my  possession),  I 


INDIANS'  ASTONISHMENT  AT  UMBRELLA.  357 

might  naturally  have  been  apprehensive  of  exciting 
their  most  dangerous  suspicions.  But,  heaven  be  praised, 
I  entertained  no  apprehension  whatever.  I  called  to 
them  with  confidence,  while  they,  struck  with  wonder 
at  so  extraordinary  an  object,  halted  on  the  opjDosite 
bank  of  the  river.  What  astonished  them  most  was 
my  superbly  conveyed  baggage.  They  could  form  no 
idea  of  what  that  great  red  sTcbi  (my  umbrella)  could 
possibly  be,  nor  of  what  was  placed  beneath  it;  and, 
observing  me  walking  in  the  water,  they  perhaps  ima- 
gined me  to  be  their  MlciWd.    ***** 

"  I  made  them  comprehend  w^hat  had  occurred  to  me, 
and  that  I  wanted  one  of  them  to  accompany  me  as  far 
as  Red  Lake.  At  first  they  started  immense  difficul- 
ties ;  but  a  w^oman  was  captivated  by  the  beauty  of  my 
handkerchief,  which  was  hanging  from  my  pocket ;  a 
lad  was  fiiscinated  with  the  one  I  had  about  my  neck, 
and  an  old  man  muffled  up  in  a  miserable  ragged  rug, 
which  through  its  immmerable  holes  displayed  nearly 
one-half  of  his  person,  had  already  cast  his  rapacious 
glance  on  mine ;  pretending  to  search  for  something  in 
my  portmanteau,  a  bit  of  calico  which  casually  came  to 
hand  excited  the  full  gaze  of  one  of  the  young  girls ; 
and  my  provisions,  which  they  had  already  tasted, 
strongly  stimulated  their  gormandizing  ajipetite  :  I  satis- 
fied the  whole  of  them,  and  the  old  man  decided  to 
accept  my  proposal.  He  took  the  helm  of  my  vessel, 
and  we  set  off. 

"  This  assistance  extricated  me  from  a  situation  whicli 
certainly  was  by  no  moans  pleasant,  and  it  was  so  much 
the  more  valuable,  as  it  Avould  have  been  impossible  for 
me  to  proceed  alone,  because  the  river  was  constantly 
increasing  in  depth.     Notwithstanding   this,  however, 


358  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

my  mind  was  in  a  state  of  incessant  agitation  as  I  2:>ro- 
ceeded,  and  I  perceived  its  attention  completely  occu- 
pied about  something  which  it  left  behind  it  with  regret. 
It  was  no  difficult  matter  for  me  to  detect  this  secret. 
My  mind  was,  in  fact,  adverting  to  the  four  days  of  its 
solitude  and  independence.  I,  at  that  moment,  fully 
comprehended  why  the  Indians  consider  themselves 
happier  than  cultivated  nations,  and  far  superior  to 
them. 

"  It  is  difficult  to  meet  with  a  rower  as  strong  as  my 
patriarchal  companion,  and  we  advanced  at  a  rapid  rate, 
without  stopping,  till  the  evening.  Our  table  was  fur- 
nished Avith  a  couple  of  ducks :  I  had  fire  to  make  a 
roast,  and  I  shot  them  accordingly.  Though  my  bed 
was  -without  a  coverlid  (the  cunning  old  fellow  having 
left  in  his  own  canoe  the  one  which  I  had  given  him), 
yet  wrapping  myself,  like  the  Indians,  in  the  skin  I 
wore  about  me,  I  lay  down  to  rest  very  comfortaljly. 
In  the  course  of  the  night  I  was  Avaked  by  my  caution- 
ary cord ;  and,  at  first,  I  imagined  that  my  pilot  was 
also  going  to  desert  me,  but  it  turned  out  to  be  occa^ 
sioned  by  some  large  animal  who  had  taken  a  fancy  to 
my  provisions.  I  gently  seized  my  gun,  which  I  always 
keep  at  my  side,  and  in  an  instant  brought  him  down. 

"  My  Indian,  confounded  by  the  report  of  fire-arms, 
thought  he  had  been  attacked  by  the  Sioux,  about 
whom,  not  improbably,  he  had  been  dreaming,  and  im- 
mediately betook  himself  to  flight.  I  called  out  to  him, 
I  ran  towards  him  to  convince  him  of  his  error  and 
restore  his  confidence,  but  the  forest  and  darkness  con- 
cealed him  from  my  view,  and  thus  in  a  moment  my 
solitude  and  mdependence  were  renewed.     However,  I 


ARKIVAL  AT  RED  LAKE.  359 

could  still  have  smiled  at  the  adventure,  if  such  an 
expression  of  feeling  had  been  at  all  seasonable. 

"  I  waited  for  him  in  vain  for  the  remainder  of  the 
night.  Two  discharges  of  the  gun,  however,  which  I 
fired  off  immediately,  one  after  the  other  (considered  by 
them  as  a  signal  of  friendship),  brought  him  back  to  his 
quarters  with  the  dawn  of  day. 

"  We  searched  for  the  animal  I  had  fired  at,  which  it 
seems  retained  strength  sufiicient  to  drag  itself  to  a  few 
paces  distance  among  the  brushwood,  to  which  traces 
of  blood  guided  us ;  it  proved  to  be  a  wolf.  My  com- 
panion refused  to  strip  tlie  animal  of  its  skin,  a  superb 
one,  viewing  it  at  the  same  time  with  an  air  of  respect, 
and  murmuring  within  himself  some  words,  the  mean- 
ing of  which  will  probably  surprise  you.  In  fact,  the 
wolf  was  his  Man'dou.  He  expressed  to  it  the  sincerity 
of  his  regret  for  what  had  happened,  and  informed  it 
that  he  was  not  the  person  who  had  destroyed  it. 

"  On  the  1 9th,  my  Mentor  wanted  to  play  me  the 
trick  of  handing  me  over  to  the  charge  of  another 
Indian  Avliom  he  fell  in  with ;  but  I  gave  him  a  frown, 
and  he  went  on  with  me.  We  again  made  a  good  day's 
progress,  to  which  I  contributed  by  rowing  to  the  best 
of  my  abilit}'. 

''  Night  arrived  without  his  pausing  in  his  exertions. 
He  gave  me  to  understand  that  it  was  indispensable  for 
him  to  reach  the  destined  place  without  delay,  and 
appeared  excessively  eager  to  rejoin  his  canoes. 

"  Much  fatigued,  and  shivering  under  a  cold  moist 
air,  with  which  the  night-dews  in  this  country  pierce  to 
the  very  bones,  I  lay  down  under  my  bear  skin  to  sleep. 
A  distant  sound  awoke  me,  and  I  found  myself  alone  in 
my  canoe,  in  the  midst  of  rushes.    On  turning  my  head. 


360  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

I  observed  three  or  four  torches  approaching  me.  My 
imagination  had  at  first  transported  me  to  the  enchanted 
land  of  fairies,  and  I  was  in  motionless  expectation  of 
receiving  a  visit  from  their  ladyships,  or  of  being  ad- 
dressed, like  Telemachiis,  by  the  nymphs.  They  proved, 
however,  to  be  female  Indians,  who  came  to  convey  my 
effects,  and  to  guide  me  to  their  hut.  My  Charon,  who 
from  purgatory  had  conducted  me  to  Hell,  had  applied 
to  them  for  this  j^^^^T^se,  and  then  hastened  his  return 
to  his  family,  who  Avere  waiting  for  him  where  he  first 
met  with  me.  I  was  now  at  Red  Lake,  at  the  marshy 
SjDot  whence  the  river  springs,  and  about  a  mile  from 
an  Indian  encampment. 

"  I  was  conducted  to  a  hut  covered  with  the  bark  of 
trees,  like  those  which  I  have  already  described  to  you 
as  belonging  to  the  Cypowais,  but  on  a  larger  scale.  I 
there  found  fourteen  Indians,  male  and  female,  nineteen 
dogs,  and  a  wolf.  The  latter  was  the  first  to  do  the 
honours  of  the  house ;  however,  as  he  was  fastened,  he 
could  not  attack  me  so  effectively  as  he  was  evidently 
desirous  of  doing,  and  merely  tore  my  pantaloons,  which 
were,  indeed,  the  only  pair  I  had  still  serviceable.  This 
wolf  was  one  of  their  household  gods. 

"  The  first  two  of  the  Indians  that  my  eyes  glanced 
on  were  my  former  treacherous  companions  :  I  appeared 
not  to  observe  them.  I  desired  the  women  to  hang  up 
my  provisions  to  the  posts  which  supported  the  roof,  to 
preserve  them  from  the  voracity  of  the  dogs ;  and,  not 
ha^dng  any  power  to  help  myself,  I  lay  down  in  the 
corner  assigned  to  me  in  this  intolerably  filthy  stable. 
When  I  got  up  again,  you  will  easily  beHeve  that  I  did 
not  rise  alone :  thus  I  incurred  an  addition  of  wounds 
and  inflictions  on  a  body  which  the  pointed  flints  and 


INDIAN  MOURNING.  361 

cutting  shells  of  the  river,  and  the  boughs  of  trees, 
thorns,  brambles,  and  mosquitoes,  had  previously  con- 
verted into  a  Job. 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  twentieth,  I  desired  to  be 
conducted  to  a  bois  brule,  for  whom  I  had  brought  a 
letter  from  Pembenar.  I  was  told  that  he  resided  at  a 
distance,  and  that  the  waters  of  the  lake  were  in  a  state 
of  great  agitation.  I  could  not  even  obtain  the  favour 
of  having  him  sent  for,  for  this  happened  to  be  the  day 
when  it  was  the  bounden  duty  of  all  the  members  of 
the  hut  to  devote  themselves  to  3-elling,  eating,  drink- 
ing, and  dancing,  in  commemoration  of  the  Indian  killed 
at  the  river  Caj^enne.  I  quitted  the  place,  and  offered 
the  only  handkerchief  that  I  had  remaining  to  the  first 
Indian  whom  I  met,  and  he  immediately  w^ent  off  with 
my  letter. 

"  The  funeral  ceremony  presented  nothing  more  extra- 
ordinary than  what  we  have  already  seen,  excepting 
the  pillaging  of  my  provisions  m  honour  of  the  hero  of 
the  fete ;  and  the  convulsions  of  the  father  and  mother 
composed  to  quietude  by  the  blowings  and  exorcisms 
of  the  priests,  and  the  wounds  inflicted  on  the  arms  and 
legs,  the  contortions,  yellings,  and  bowlings  of  his  rela- 
tives. ******* 

"  A  party  of  the  relatives  and  friends  was  gone  on 
an  expedition  for  discovering  whether  the  Sioux  had 
left  no  remains  whatever  on  the  spot  wdiere  the  tragedy 
had  been  acted,  while  my  old  friend  the  pilot,  as  herald- 
at-arms,  had  proceeded  to  rouse  the  vengeance  and  im- 
plore the  succour  of  some  Cypowais  Jumpers,  who  were 
scattered  in  various  spots  aljout  the  forests.  The  doc- 
trine of  these  Indians  is  strikingly  singular :  it  is  per- 
haps held  by  them  only,  of  all  mankind.     For  tliey 


362  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

seem  to  recognise  rather  the  immortaHty  of  the  body 
than  of  the  soul. 

"  My  bois  brule  had  now  arrived.  He  was  one  of  the 
numerous  progeny  scattered  over  the  country  by  the 
vice  and  immoraUty  of  the  fur  traders.  He  is  the  son 
of  a  Canadian  and  a  female  Indian  of  the  tribe  of  the 
C3rpowais.  *  *  *  *  * 

"My  bois  brule  resides  about  twelve  miles  distant 
from  this  encampment  to  the  south  of  the  lake.  The 
wind  was  too  high  for  a  canoe  made  of  bark,  and  the 
lake  too  violently  agitated ;  we  were  compelled,  there- 
fore, to  disembark,  and  passed  the  night  under  an  im- 
mense plane  tree.  This  plane  is,  perhaps,  the  Colossus 
of  the  whole  vegetable  kingdom.  The  Indians  adore  it 
as  a  Manitou;  the  ancients  would  have  done  the  same; 
and  though  I  am  myself  a  modern,  I  admire  it  as  one 
of  the  most  prodigious  and  most  beautiful  productions 
of  nature. 

"  We  arrived  at  his  hut  on  the  morning  of  the  twenty- 
first.  Misery  might  be  said  to  be  personified  in  his 
family,  and  in  all  by  which  he  was  surrounded ;  a  wife 
(the  daughter  of  a  father  she  has  never  seen)  nourishing 
an  infant  at  her  breast,  but  nearly  destitute  of  nourish- 
ment herself,  and  five  naked  and  famine-struck  children, 
constituted  the  whole  of  his  property.  The  uncertain 
fishery  of  the  lake,  and  a  small  quantity  of  maize,  in 
its  green  and  immature  state,  furnish  the  whole  means 
of  their  subsistence.  They  are  neither  civilized  nor 
savage,  possessmg  the  resources  of  neither  state,  but 
every  inconvenience  and  defect  of  both.  The  worst 
part  of  the  case  is,  that  this  bois  brule  has  a  great  deal 
of  natural  talent,  which  serves  only  to  render  him  more 
dangerous.    He  has  been  taught  both  to  read  and  write, 


RED  RIVER  OF  RED  LAKE.  363 

and  has  obtained  that  species  of  education  which  just 
serves  to  strengthen  the  innate  evil  propensities  of  the 
man,  when  unaccompanied  by  that  moral  training 
which  is  their  proper  curb  and  correction :  in  fact,  the 
obliquity  of  his  character  has  quite  ruined  him  in  the 
opinion  of  the  traders  who  have  successively  employed 
him  ;  and  his  crimes  obliged  him  to  abscond  from  Pem- 
benar,  Avhere  I  was  informed  that  I  ought  to  be  more 
on  my  guard  agamst  him  than  against  the  Indians 
themselves.  I  mention  all  these  circumstances  to  3"ou, 
my  dear  Countess,  because,  with  the  truest  and  noblest 
friendship,  you  are  desirous  of  participating,  as  it  were, 
in  every  description  of  danger  incurred  by  me,  and  in 
order  that  those  of  our  mutual  friends  who  may  be 
inclined  to  engage  in  the  field  of  adventure  like  myself, 
may  learn  how  to  meet  and  overcome  the  various  ene- 
mies they  may  have  to  encounter.  ♦  *  * 

''  But  we  will  now  return  to  the  Red  river,  from  which 
we  have  somewhat,  though  not  unnaturall}'^,  digressed, 
and  which  we  have  surveyed  hitherto  rather  through 
the  imagination  than  the  senses. 

"  It  presents  no  other  extraordinary  feature  than  the 
very  frequent  winding  of  its  course,  in  which  perhaps 
it  is  scarcely  exceeded  by  the  Meander  itself  It  waters 
a  country  uniformly  level,  and  the  rapids  which  we 
liave  seen  do  not  lower  its  level  but  by  the  height  of  its 
l)anks.  After  Robber's  river,  as  you  ascend,  no  other 
river  flows  into  it.  This  is  more  particularly  to  be 
noticed,  because  the  English  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
according  to  their  theories,  have  created  on  their  map 
other  Red  rivers,  with  many  more  tributary  streams 
flowing  into  it  than  this  has. 

"  At  the  distance  of  about  forty  miles  from  the  lake, 


304  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

its  banks  are  lined  with  impenetrable  forests;  above, 
the  view  is  agreeably  varied  by  smiling  meadows  and 
handsome  shrubbery.  On  flowing  from  the  lake  it 
passes  among  rushes  and  wild  rice.  It  is  an  error  of 
geographers,  founded  on  the  vague  information  of  In- 
dians, that  it  derives  its  source  from  this  lake ;  indeed, 
a  lake  which  is  formed  by  five  or  six  rivers  which  flow 
into  it  can  never  be  considered  as  itself  the  source  of 
any  smgle  river.  We  shall  soon  have  occasion  to  look 
farther  for  this  source. 

"  The  lake,  by  means  of  a  strait,  is  divided  into 
two  ports,  one  to  the  north-east  and  the  other  to  the 
south-west.  Let  us  proceed  to  make  the  circuit  of  the 
last,  which  is  certainly  the  most  interesting. 

"  It  receives  on  the  western  side  the  river  Broachers 
[Kinoucjeo-sibi) ,  and  that  of  the  Great  Rock  [KisciOr 
cinabed-sihl) ;  to  the  south,  the  river  KahasinUague-sibi, 
or  Gravel  river,  near  which  the  hut  of  my  Bois-hruU 
guide  is  situated ;  that  of  Kiogohague-sibi,  or  Gold-fish 
river ;  and  that  of  Madaoanalcan-sibi,  or  Great  Portage 
river ;  on  the  south-east.  Cormorant  river  ( Cacahisciou- 
sibi).  A  large  tongue  of  land  on  the  E.  N.  E.  forms  a 
peninsula  about  four  miles  in  length,  and  of  varying 
breadth,  ending  in  a  point  towards  the  west.  At  a 
little  distance,  towards  the  north,  there  is  another  en- 
campment of  Indians,  consisting  of  about  three  hundred 
persons,  the  chief  of  whom  is  the  Grand  Carabou  [Kisci- 
Adihe).  The  strait  is  situated  to  the  N.  N.  E.,  and  there 
is  a  small  island  in  the  midst  of  its  waters  dividing 
them  into  two.  To  the  north  we  find  another  tongue 
of  land,  which  serves  also  to  separate  the  two  lakes, 
and  reaches  as  far  as  the  strait,  commencing  at  the 
spot  whence,  as  we  have  seen.  Red  river,  or  (more  pro- 


NUMEROUS  LAKES.  365 

perly  speaking)  Bloody  river,  proceeds.  The  other  lake 
receives,  on  the  east,  Sturgeon  river  {AmenilMninssihi) , 
By  the  channel  of  this  river,  and  by  means  of  two 
portages,  there  is  a  communication  with  Rain  river, 
from  whence  one  can  easily  cotiimunicate  with  Lake 
Superior,  to  the  south;  and  Avitli  the  waters  of  Hud- 
son's Bay,  by  the  Lake  of  Woods,  to  the  north.  The 
waters  w^iich  flow  into  Lake  Superior  on  this  side,  may 
be  considered  as  the  sources  of  the  river  St.  Lawrence. 

"  These  two  lakes  are  about  one  hundred  and  thirty 
miles  in  circumference ;  and  Red  river  traverses  about 
three  hundred  from  the  lake  to  Pembenar;  but  in  a 
straight  line  the  whole  distance  scarcely  amounts  to 
one  hundred  and  sixty. 

"How  much  has  it  cost  me,  my  dear  Countess,  to 
write  you  these  details !  Perhaps  as  much  as  it  will 
you  to  peruse  them ;  for,  like  all  w^omen  of  spirit,  j-ou 
are  fond  of  the  brilliant  and  romantic.  But  our  geo- 
graphical friends  would  accuse  me  of  negligence  if  I 
forgot  them  in  a  country  completely  unknown  to  them, 
and  where  no  white  man  had  previously  travelled.   *   * 

'•  In  the  course  of  an  excursion  which  I  made  to  the 
south-west,  I  discovered  eight  small  lakes,  undistin- 
guished by  names,  which  all  communicate  with  each 
other,  and  of  which  Gravel  river  is  the  outlet.  These 
lakes  seem  to  have  been  negligently  scattered  by  nature 
through  a  territory  sometimes  gloomy  and  sometimes 
gay,  varied  with  hills  and  dales,  and  presenting  to  the 
eye  landscapes  the  most  delightful  and  enchanting.  I 
resolved  to  pass  a  night  amidst  scenes  so  uncommonly 
charming,  that  I  might  enjoy  as  long  as  possible  the 
exquisite  impressions  they  made  upon  my  mind  and 
senses.     I  dedicated  these  lakes  to  the  family  to  which 


366  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

I  am  united  by  the  most  cordial  friendship ;  and  accord- 
ingly gave  them  the  names  of  Alexander,  Lavinius, 
Everard,  Frederica,  Adela,  Magdalena,  Virginia,  and 
Eleonora.  The  purity  of  the  waters  of  these  lakes  I 
considered  a  correct  image  of  that  of  their  minds  ;  and 
their  union  reminded  me  of  the  affection  by  which  the 
members  of  this  happy  family  are  so  tenderly  connected. 

"I  returned  to  the  encampment  of  Great  Hare,  to 
engage  an  Indian  to  attend  me,  together  with  my  bois 
brule  guide,  during  the  continuance  of  my  excursion, 
and  to  purchase  the  canoe  which  was  the  scene  of  my 
tragi-comedy  on  Eed  river;  for  I  was  desirous  of  hav- 
ing it  conveyed,  if  possible,  to  my  rural  cottage,  and 
preserve  it  with  my  other  Indian  curiosities  as  a  memo- 
rial and  trophy  of  my  labours  in  these  my  transatlantic 
promenades.  ******** 

"  The  river  of  Great  Portage  is  so  called  by  the  In- 
dians because  a  dreadful  storm  that  occurred  on  it  blew 
down  a  vast  number  of  forest  trees  on  its  banks,  which 
encumber  its  channel,  and  so  impede  its  navigation  as 
to  make  an  extensive  or  great  j^ojiage  in  order  to  reach 
it.  The  river  thus  denominated,  however,  is  the  true 
Red,  or  rather  Bloody  river.  It  enters  the  lake  on  the 
south,  and  goes  out,  as  we  have  seen,  on  the  north- 
west. This  is  the  opinion  of  the  Indians  themselves, 
and  it  is  not  difficult  to  find  arguments  in  support  of  it. 

"  According  to  the  theory  of  ancient  geographers,  ihe 
sources  of  a  river  ivhich  are  most  in  a  right  line  with  its 
mouth  should  he  considered  as  its  principal  sources,  and 
particidarly  when  they  issue  from  a  cardinal  point  and 
flow  to  the  one  directly  ojjposite.  This  theory  appears 
conformable  to  nature  and  reason;  and  upon  this  prin- 
ciple we  should  proceed  in  forming  the  sources  of  the 


SOURCES  OF  RED  RIVER.  367 

river  of  Great  Portage.  By  the  name  Portage,  is  meant 
a  passage  which  the  Indians  make  over  a  tongue  of 
land,  from  one  river  or  lake  to  another,  carrying  with 
them  on  their  backs  their  light  canoes,  their  baggage, 
and  cargoes. 

"I  left  Red  Lake  on  the  morning  of  the  twenty-sixth. 
The  commencement  of  Portage  is  between  the  river  so 
called  and  Gold-fish  river.  It  is  about  twelve  miles 
long;  and  I  therefore  engaged  another  Indian,  with  his 
horse,  to  effect  it  more  conveniently.  The  country  is 
delightful,  but  at  times  almost  impenetrable.        *         '•' 

"  On  the  ensumg  day,  the  twenty-seventh,  I  dis- 
charged the  supernumerary  Indian,  with  his  horse;  for, 
having  no  provisions  but  what  we  could  procure  by 
means  of  our  guns,  we  were  already  three  too  many. 
We  crossed  the  small  lake  strictly  in  the  direction  from 
north  to  south;  and  here  we  commenced  another  port- 
age of  four  miles.    '-^        ''^        ''•         '•"'         '='         '='        * 

"At  the  end  of  this  corvee  we  found  the  Great  Port- 
age river.  We  embarked  and  proceeded  up  its  current, 
crossing  two  lakes  which  it  forms  in  its  course,  each 
about  five  or  six  miles  in  circumference,  and  containing 
patches  of  wild  rice — unfortunately  for  us  not  yet  ripe. 
We  gave  these  lakes  the  name  oi  Manomeny-Kany-aguen, 
or  the  Lakes  of  Wild  Rice. 

"  After  proceeding  upwards  of  five  or  six  miles,  always 
in  a  southerly  direction,  we  entered  a  noble  lake,  formed 
like  the  others  by  the  waters  of  the  river,  and  which 
has  no  other  issue  than  the  river's  entrance  and  dis- 
charge. 

"  Its  form  is  that  of  a  half-moon,  and  it  has  a  beauti- 
ful island  in  the  centre  of  it.  Its  circumference  is 
about  twenty  miles.    The  Indians  call  it  Painjshy-  Wha^ 


368  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

Kany-aguen,  or  the  End  of  the  shaldng  Lands ;  an  ety- 
mology very  correct,  as  nearly  all  the  region  we  have 
traversed  from  the  Lake  of  Pmes  may  be  almost  con- 
sidered to  Hoat  upon  the  waters.         '•■"         '''         '='         * 

"  I  passed  on  this  spot  a  part  of  the  day  of  my  arrival 
and  the  whole  of  the  succeeding  night.  On  the  morn- 
ing of  the  twenty-eighth,  we  resumed  our  navigation  of 
the  river,  which  enters  on  the  south  side  of  the  lake. 

"About  six  miles  higher  up  we. discovered  its  sources, 
which  spring  out  of  the  ground  in  the  middle  of  a  small 
prairie,  and  the  little  basin  into  which  they  bubble  up 
is  surrounded  by  rushes.  We  approached  the  spot 
within  fifty  paces  in  our  canoe. 

"  But  now,  my  dear  Countess,  let  me  request  you  to 
step  on  quickly  for  a  moment,  pass  the  short  portage 
which  conducts  to  the  top  of  the  small  hill,  which  over- 
hangs these  sources  on  the  south,  and  transport  your- 
self to  the  place  where  I  am  now  writing.  Here,  re- 
posing under  the  tree,  beneath  whose  shade  I  am  rest- 
ing at  the  present  moment,  you  will  survey  with  an 
eager  eye,  and  with  feelings  of  intense  and  new  delight, 
the  sublime  traits  of  nature ;  phenomena  which  fill  the 
soul  with  astonishment,  and  inspire  it  at  the  same  time 
with  almost  heavenly  ecstasy  !  This  is  a  work  which 
belongs  to  the  Creator  of  it  alone  to  explain.  Yfe  can 
only  adore  in  silence  his  omnipotent  hand.  '''         * 

"  We  are  now  on  the  highest  land  of  North  America, 
if  we  except  the  icy  and  unknown  mountains  which  are 
lost  in  the  problematical  regions  of  the  pole  of  that 
part  of  the  world,  and  in  the  vague  conjectures  of  vi- 
sionary mapmakers.  Yet  all  is  here  plain  and  level,  and 
the  hill  is  merely  an  eminence  formed,  as  it  were,  for 
an  observatory. 


NORTHERN  SOURCES  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI.  oG9 

"  Casting  our  eye  around  us,  we  perceive  the  flow  of 
waters — to  the  south  towards  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  to  the 
north  towards  the  Frozen  Sea,  on  the  east  to  the  Atlantic, 
and  on  the  west  towards  the  Pacific  Ocean.      *      *      * 

"  You  have  seen  the  sources  of  the  river  which  I  have 
ascended  to  this  spot.  They  are  precisely  at  the  foot 
of  the  hill,  and  filtrate  in  a  direct  line  from  the  north 
bank  of  the  lake,  on  the  right  of  the  centre,  in  descend- 
ing towards  the  north.  They  are  the  sources  of  Bloody 
river.  On  the  other  side,  towards  the  south,  and  equally 
at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  other  sources  fonn  a  beautiful  little 
basin  of  about  eighty  feet  in  circumference.  These 
waters  likewise  filtrate  from  the  lake,  towards  its  south- 
western extremity :  and  these  sources  are  the  actual 
sources  of  the  Mississippi  I  This  lake,  therefore,  sup- 
plies the  most  southern  sources  of  Ked,  or,  as  I  shall  in 
future  call  it  (by  its  truer  name).  Bloody  river;  and 
the  most  northern  sources  of  the  Mississippi — sources  till 
now  unknown  of  both. 

"  This  lake  is  about  three  miles  round.  It  is  formed 
in  the  shape  of  a  heart ;  and  it  may  be  truly  said  to 
speak  to  the  very  soul.  Mine  was  not  slightly  moved 
by  it.  It  was  but  justice  to  draw  it  from  the  silence  in 
which  geography,  after  so  many  expeditions,  still  suf- 
fered it  to  remain,  and  to  point  it  out  to  the  world  in 
all  its  honourable  distinction.  I  have  given  it  the  name 
of  the  respectable  lady  whose  life  (to  use  the  language 
of  her  illustrious  friend  the  Countess  of  Albany)  was 
one  undeviating  course  of  moral  rectitude,  and  whose 
death  was  a  calamity  to  all  who  had  the  happiness  of 
knowing  her;  and  the  recollection  of  whom  is  inces- 
santly connected  with  veneration  and  grief  by  all  who 
can  properly  appreciate  beneficence  and  virtue.    I  have 

24 


370  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

called  the  lake,  accordingly,  Lake  Julia ;  and  the  sources 
of  the  two  rivers,  the  Julian  sources  of  Blood}-  river, 
and  the  Julian  sources  of  the  Mississippi,  Avhich,  in  the 
Algonquin  language,  means  the  Father  of  Rivers.  Oh ! 
what  were  the  thoughts  which  passed  through  my  muid 
at  this  most  happy  and  brilliant  moment  of  my  life ! 
The  shades  of  Marco  Polo,  of  Columbus,  of  Americus 
Vespucius,  of  the  Cabots,  of  Verazani,  of  the  Zenos, 
and  various  others,  appeared  present,  and  joyfully  assist- 
ing at  this  high  and  solemn  ceremony,  and  congratu- 
lating themselves  on  one  of  their  countrymen  having, 
by  new  and  successful  researches,  brought  back  to  the 
recollection  of  the  world  the  inestimable  services  which 
they  had  themselves  conferred  on  it  by  their  own 
peculiar  discoveries,  by  their  talents,  achievements,  and 
virtues.         ********* 

^'  I  find  it  impossible  to  become  weary  of  examining 
and  admiring  the  least  objects  of  attention  furnished 
by  this  scene.  The  majestic  river,  which  embraces  a 
world  in  its.  immense  course,  and  speaks  in  thunder  in 
its  cataracts,  is  at  these  its  sources  nothing  but  a  timid 
Naiad,  stealing  cautiously  through  the  rushes  and  briars 
which  obstruct  its  progress.  The  famous  Mississippi, 
whose  course  is  said  to  be  twelve  hundred  leagues,  and 
which  bears  navies  on  its  bosom,  and  steamboats  supe- 
rior in  size  to  frigates,  is  at  its  source  merely  a  petty 
stream  of  crystalline  Avater,  concealing  itself  among 
reeds  and  wild  rice,  which  seem  to  insult  over  its  hum- 
ble bu-th.      ********* 

"  Neither  traveller,  nor  missionary,  nor  geographer, 
nor  expedition-maker,  ever  visited  this  lake.  A  great 
many  of  the  stories  which  find  their  way  into  books  are 
invented  by  the  red  men,  either  to  deceive  the  whites, 


INDUXS  DISPOSED  TO  MISLEAD.  371 

or  to  conceal  their  own  belief  or  their  own  weaknesses. 
*  *  *  The  Indians  themselves  have  confessed  to 
me  that,  when  they  go  down  to  the  traders'  settlements, 
tliej'  amuse  themselves  with  gulling  their  credulity  by 
a  number  of  fables,  which  afterwards  become  the  oracles 
of  geographers  and  book-makers.         *         *         *         * 

"  On  the  fourth  of  September  we  struck  our  tents 
very  early,  and  arrived  in  the  evening  at  Red  Cedar 
Lake,  so  called  on  account  of  the  number  of  those  beau- 
tiful trees,  whose  dark  green  foliage  overshadows  its 
islands  and  banks.  *  *  *  * 

"  This  lake  is  the  non  jjilus  ultra  of  all  the  discoveries 
ever  made  in  these  regions  before  my  own.  No  tra- 
veller, no  expedition,  no  explorer,  whether  European  or 
American,  has  gone  beyond  this  point ;  and  it  is  at  this 
lake  that  Mr.  Schoolcraft  fixed  the  sources  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi in  1819.  For  the  more  complete  celebration  of 
this  fortunate  discovery,  this  illustrious  epoch,  he  rebaj)- 
tized  it  by  the  name  of  Lake  Cassina,  from  the  name  of 
Mr.  Cass,  Governor  of  Michigan  territory,  who  was  at 
the  head  of  the  expedition.  Mr.  Schoolcraft  was  the 
historiographer.  *  *  *  * 

"  At  the  bottom  of  this  last  lake,  on  the  west,  is  found 
the  entrance  of  a  considerable  river,  which  the  Indians 
call  Demizimaguamaguensibi,  or  the  river  of  Lake  Tra- 
verse. It  issues  from  the  lake  (the  second  of  that 
name),  twenty  miles  above  its  mouth,  on  the  north- 
west. This  lake  communicates,  in  the  same  direction, 
by  a  strait  of  two  or  three  miles  in  length,  with  another 
lake,  which  the  Indians  call  Moscosaguaiguen,  or  Bitch' 
Lake,  which  receives  no  tributary  stream,  and  seems  to 
draw  its  waters  from  the  bosom  of  the  earth.    It  is  here, 

^  La  Bicbe  Lake,  or  Elk  Lake. 


372  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

in  my  opinion,  that  we  shall  fix  the  western  sources  of 
the  Mississippi.'  *  *  *  * 

"  On  the  night  of  the  seventh  I  slept  at  the  mouth  of 
Leech  river.  The  lake  whence  it  issues  is  a  new  Colchis, 
where  a  second  Jason  found,  like  the  first,  a  golden 
fleece ;  where  Mr.  Pike  fixed  the  sources  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, fourteen  years  l^efore  Mr.  Cass  fixed  them  at  Red 
Cedar  Lake.  This  circumstance  could  not  fail  of  excit- 
ing my  curiosity,  and  I  determined,  in  consequence,  to 
go  and  view  the  scene  which  had  given  birth  to  the  con- 
jectures of  the  first  of  my  two  predecessors.         *        * 

'•  On  the  ninth  we  arrived  at  Leech  Lake  {Kaza-gas- 
guaiguen),  at  Macuiva,  or  Bear  Island,  where  we  found 
a  considerable  band  of  Cypoivais  jjlwiderers,  so  denomi- 
nated from  their  plundering  and  murdering  the  first 
Canadians  who  pushed  their  commerce  to  such  a  dan- 
gerous distance. 

"  This  band  is  very  numerous  and  warlike.  I  found 
it  divided  into  two  factions,  one  of  which  is  actuated  by 
the  spirit  of  legitimacy,  the  other  by  its  opposite.  The 
Polceslwnonepe,  or  Cloudy  Weather,  a  usurper,  contests 
the  crown  and  empire  with  the  chief  Esquihusicoge,  or 
Wide  Mouth,  who  possesses  them  by  hereditary  right : 
but  as  these  Indians,  beyond  all  others,  require  for  their 
head  a  daring  and  active  man,  who  can  conduct  them 
to  victory  over  the  Sioux,  by  whom  they  are  frequently 
harassed,  instead  of  an  idle  and  profligate  poltroon, 
always  reposing  under  the  shade  of  his  genealogical 
tree,  and  destitute  of  all  merit  but  that  allowed  him  by 
his  flatterers.  Cloudy  Weather  has  the  majority  on  his 
side.     The  government  of  the  United  States  acknow- 

^  Nine  years  after  this  suggestion,  Allen  and  Schoolcraft  visited  the 
westem  sources  of  the  Mississippi. 


BELTRAMI  AT  LEECH  LAKE.  373 

ledges  both:  Gloudy  Weather,  because  he  declaims  in 
their  favour ;  and  Wide  Mouth,  in  order  to  detach  him 
from  the  English,  to  whom  he  is  friendly ;  but  princi- 
pall}',  I  imagine,  from  the  policy  of  keeping  alive  divi- 
sion in  a  band  powerful  in  force  but  precarious  in 
attachment.  *  *  *  * 

"  On  my  arrival  among  them  they  were  in  no  little 
commotion  on  another  subject,  involving  the  two  parties 
in  new  contention.  Cloudy  Weather's  son-in-law  had 
been  killed  a  few  da3's  before  by  the  Sioux,  and  they 
had  at  the  same  time  received  intelligence  of  the  affair 
at  Cayenne  river,  and  of  what  had  happened  to  my  two 
Indians  on  Bloody  river.  Wide  Mouth  demanded  an 
immediate  war,  and  was  desirous  of  forming  an  army, 
of  which  he  himself  never  constituted  any  part.  Cloudy 
Weather,  who  is  not  deficient  in  sense,  suspected  that 
this  warlike  ardour,  this  extraordinary  eagerness  and 
zeal,  were  assumed  with  a  view  to  remove  him  out  of 
the  way,  and  turn  his  absence  to  his  injury;  and  there- 
fore, although  the  principal  person  aggrieved,  strongly 
recommended  prudence  and  moderation.  *  * 

"  I  was  a  s^DCctator  of  the  funeral  ceremony  performed 
in  honour  of  the  manes  of  Cloudy  Weather  s  son-in-law, 
whose  body  had  remained  with  the  Sioux,  and  was  sus- 
pected to  have  furnished  one  of  their  repasts.  What 
appeared  not  a  little  singular,  and  indeed  ludicrous  in 
this  funeral  comedy,  was  the  contrast  exhibited  by  the 
terrific  lamentations  and  ^ells  of  one  part  of  the  com- 
pany, while  the  others  M'cre  singing  and  dancing  with 
all  their  might.  I  was  scarcely  able  several  times  to 
refrain  from  laughing;  but  the  ceremony  having  some 
resemblance  to  the  usages  of  the  ancients,  who  also  on 
such  occasions  paid  and   employed  together   Tihicencs 


374  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

and  Prceficoi,  my  resj)ect  for  antiquity  and  antiquaries 
enabled  me  to  preserve  my  gravity.  At  another  fune- 
ral ceremony  for  a  member  of  the  Grand  IfecUcine, 
and  at  which,  as  a  man  of  another  icorJd,  I  was  permit- 
ted to  attend,  the  same  practice  occurred.  But,  at  the 
feast  which  took  place  on  that  occasion,  an  allowance 
was  served  up  for  the  deceased  out  of  every  article  of 
which  it  consisted,  while  others  were  beating,  wounding, 
and  torturing  themselves,  and  letting  their  blood  flow 
both  over  the  dead  man  and  his  provisions,  thinking 
jDOssibly  that  this  was  the  most  palatable  seasoning  for 
the  latter  which  they  could  possibly  supply.  His  wife 
furnished  out  an  entertainment  present  for  him  of  all  her 
hair  and  ra";s,  with  which,  toaether  with  his  arms,  his 
provisions,  his  ornaments,  and  his  mystic  medicine  bag, 
he  was  wrapped  up  in  the  skin  which  had  been  his  last 
coveruig  when  alive.  He  was  then  tied  round  with  the 
bark  of  some  particular  trees  which  they  use  for  mak- 
ing cords,  and  cords  of  a  very  finn  texture  and  hold 
(the  only  ones  mdeed  which  they  have),  and  instead 
of  being  buried  in  the  earth,  was  hung  up  to  a  large  oak. 
The  reason  of  this  was,  that  as  his  favourite  Manitou 
was  the  eagle,  his  spirit  would  be  enabled  more  easily 
from  such  a  situation  to  fly  with  him  to  Paradise.  Here 
again  we  perceive  another  trait  of  antiquity,  and  a  rich 
relish  for  our  antiquarian  amateurs,  whom,  I  think,  I 
must  at  length  have  completely  satisfied.  The  oak  is 
also  among  the  Indians  the  tree  consecrated  to  the 
eagle,  that  is  to  say,  to  Jupiter. 

"  Mr.  Pike,  who  was  at  the  head  of  the  expedition, 
despatched  by  the  government  of  the  United  States  in 
1805,  to  discover  the  sources  of  the  Mississippi,  fixes 
them  at  this  lake,  although  the  river  Leech  which  flows 


MORRISON  AT  ITASCA  LAKE  IN  1804.  -  375 

into  it  on  the  X.N.W.,  ascends  more  than  fifty  miles 
higlier  up ;  and  although  various  other  rivers,  the  courses 
of  which  are  as  jet  unknown,  equally  flow  into  this  lake. 
But  it  was  in  winter ;  the  cold  was  excessively  severe, 
and  it  is  no  pleasant  or  easy  matter  to  discover  sources 
through  ice.  It  is  impossible  to  doubt,  that,  at  a  differ- 
ent season  of  the  year,  and  with  a  less  embarrassing 
party,  Mr.  Pike  would  have  pushed  his  discoveries  far- 
ther. He  was  a  bold  and  enterprising  man ;  and  his 
expedition  to  New  Mexico,  and  his  glorious  death  in 
the  field  of  honour,  merit  a  place  in  history.  He  will 
always  be  entitled  to  the  distinction  of  having  been  the 
first  who  extended  his  researches  so  far  in  regions  so 
wild  and  repulsive,  and  that  at  a  time  when  there  ex- 
isted no  fort  whatever  on  the  Mississippi." 

The  following  letter,  written  by  William  Morrison, 
an  old  trader,  to  his  brother,  Allan  Morrison,  published 
in  the  Annals  of  the  Minnesota  Historical  Society  for 
1856,  shows  that  the  lakes  of  the  Upper  Mississippi 
were  visited  early  in  the  present  century  by  those  en- 
gaged in  Indian  commerce  : — 

"  Dear  Brother, — In  answering  your  favour  of  the 
tenth  January,  I  will  pass  se^■eral  incidents  that  I  pre- 
sume you  are  well  informed  of,  and  give  you  the  time 
and  circumstances  that  led  me  to  be  the  first  white 
man  that  discovered  the  source  of  the  great  Mis.^issippi 
river.  I  left  Grand  Portage,  on  the  north  shore  of  Lake 
Superior,  now  the  boundary  line  between  the  United 
States  and  the  British  Possessions,  in  the  year  1802, 
and  landed  at  Leech  Lake  in  September  or  October,  the 
same  year.  I  wintered  on  one  of  the  streams  of  the 
Crow  Wing,  near  its  source.  Our  Indians  were  Pilhi- 
gers.     In  1803  and  1804,  I  went  and  .wintered  at  Rice 


376  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

Lake.  I  jDassed  by  Red  Cedar  Lake,  now  called  Cass 
Lake,  followed  up  the  Mississippi  to  Cross  Lake,  and 
then  up  the  Mississippi  again  to  Elk  Lake,  now  called 
Itasca  Lake,  the  source  of  the  great  river  Mississippi. 
A  short  distance  this  side,  I  made  a  portage,  to  get  to 
Rice  river,  which  is  called  the  Portage  of  the  Heights 
of  Land,  or  the  dividing  ridge  that  separates  the  waters 
of  the  Mississippi  and  those  that  empty  into  the  Red 
River  of  the  North ;  thence  to  Hudson's  Bay,  the  port- 
age is  short, 

I  discovered  no  traces  of  any  white  man  before  me, 
when  I  visited  Itasca  Lake  in  1804.  And  if  the  late 
General  Pike  did  not  lay  it  down  as  such,  when  he 
came  to  Leech  Lake,  it  is  because  he  did  not  happen  to 
meet  me,  I  was  at  an  outpost  that  winter.  The  late 
General  Pike  laid  down  Cass  Lake  on  his  map  as  the 
head  of  the  Mississippi  river.  In  1811-12,  I  went  the 
same  route,  to  winter  on  Rice  river,  near  the  plains. 
There  I  overtook  a  gentleman  with  an  outfit  from 
Mackinac,  by  the  name  of  Otesse,  with  whom  I  parted 
only  at  Fond  du  Lac,  he  taking  the  southern  route  to 
Mackinac,  and  I  the  northern  to  head-quarters,  which 
had  been  changed  from  Grand  Portage  to  Fort  William. 
This  will  explain  to  you  that  I  visited  Itasca  Lake, 
then  called  Elk  Lake,  in  1803-4,  and  in  1811-12,  and 
five  small  streams  that  empty  into  the  lake,  that  are 
sliort,  and  soon  lose  themselves  in  the  swamps. 

"  By  way  of  explanation,  why  the  late  General  Pike, 
then  Captain  Pike,  in  1805,  who  had  orders  to  stem  the 
Mississippi  to  its  source,  and  was  stopped  by  the  ice  a 
little  below  Swan  river,  at  the  place  since  called  Pike's 
Rapids,  or  Pike's  Block  House,  and  had  to  proceed  from 
tloere  to  Leech  Lake  on  foot.     He  had  to  learn  there 


MORRISON'S  LETTER  ABOUT  PIKE.  377 

where  the  source  of  the  Mississippi  was.  He  went  to 
Cass  Lake,  and  could  proceed  no  further.  He  had  been 
told  that  I  knew  the  source,  but  could  not  see  me,  I 
being  out  at  an  outpost.  This  want  of  information  made 
him  commit  the  error;  some  persoji,  not  knowing  better, 
told  him  there  was  no  river  above  Cass  Lake.  Cass  Lake 
receives  the  waters  of  Cross  Lake,  and  Cross  Lake  those 
of  Itasca  Lake,  and  five  small  streams  that  empty  into 
Itasca  Lake,  then  called  Elk  Lake.  Those  streams  I 
have  noted  before,  no  white  man  can  claim  the  dis- 
covery of  the  source  of  the  Mississippi  before  me,  for  I 
was  the  first  that  saw  and  examined  its  shores." 

From  this  digression,  let  us  return  to  the  narrative 
of  Beltrami : — 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  fourteenth,  I  landed  at  the 
establishment  of  the  South-west  Company,  near  the  exit 
of  the  Leech  river,  in  hopes  of  replacing  in  some  mea- 
sure my  Bois  bride.  But  we  found  only  a  single  person 
there,  left  to  take  care  of  the  place ;  and  it  was  quite 
impossible  for  him  to  leave  it ;  I  was  therefore  obliged 
to  go  on  with  Cloudy  Weather  only.  However,  I  ob- 
tained all  the  instructions  that  were  necessary  to  enable 
me  to  proceed  with  information  as  far  as  Sandy  Lake ; 
and  I  found  myself  gradually  more  intelligible  to  my 
new  Indian  associate.  *  *  ■''  * 

"  On  the  evening  of  the  seventeenth  we  arrived  at 
Sandy  Lake,  on  the  east,  which  is  about  one  hundred 
and  twenty  miles  from  the  last-mentioned  place,  about 
three  hundred  from  Red  Lake,  and  about  three  hundred 
also  from  Leech  Lake.  *  '••  '*="  * 

"  All  the  maps,  whether  of  former  or  recent  date,  even 
those  constructed  conformably  to  expeditions,  are  exceed- 
ingly incorrect  with  respect  to  the-  situation  of  Sandy 


378  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

Lake.  They  place  it  at  the  south-east  of  Lake  Leech, 
though  it  is  nearly  at  the  east ;  and  this  error  draws  after 
it  others  respecting  its  latitude  and  longitude.  I  have 
observed  this  mistake  by  the  due  application  of  my  com- 
pass, the  result  of  which  corresponds  with  the  opinions 
of  the  Indians  on  the  subject,  Avho,  indeed,  are  very 
seldom  deceived  in  their  geographical  statements.     '^'-    * 

"  After  passing  the  confluence  of  the  Missay-guani- 
sibi,  or  River  Brandy,  on  the  east,  and  that  of  another 
river,  wdiich  is  unknown,  on  the  west,  I  approached 
that  grand  and  interesting  spectacle — the  Falls  of  St. 
Anthony.^  *  *  The  strength  of  the  current  hurried 
forward  our  canoe  with  alarming  rajDidity ;  and  at  length 
I  discerned  between  the  trees,  and  in  a  pleasant  Ijack- 
ground,  the  roof  of  a  house,  indicating  of  course  civilized 
habitation.  This  was  the  mill  for  the  garrison  at  the 
fort.  On  reaching  this  place,  my  mind,  still  dwelling 
on  all  the  grand  and  terrible  scenes  w^hich  had  occurred 
to  me  in  the  course  of  three  months,  while  traversing 
eternal  deserts,  among  barbarous  tribes  and  unknown 
regions,  was  agitated  with  emotions  which  I  could 
scarcely  describe  or  discriminate. 

"  The  sight  of  this  object,  which  announced  my  ap- 
proach to  the  residence  of  cultivated  man,  produced  in 
me  a  conflict  of  opposite  feelings.  I  regretted  the  inde- 
pendence of  savage  life,  while  at  the  same  time  I  expe- 
rienced a  thrill  of  delight  at  returning  within  the  sj^here 
of  civilized  society. 

"  After  having  cleared  the  portage,  I  comj)leted  my 
Lidian  toilet  for  the  last  time ;  that  is,  I  shaved  myself 
without  either  soap  or  glass,  and  with  razors  which  were 
much  like  saws.      I  took  my  bath  in  the  river,  and 

^  September  thirtieth. 


BELTRAMI  IN  TATTERS  AT  FORT  SNELLING.      379 

dressed  myself  as  well  as  I  was  able,  in  order  to  appear 
at  the  fort  as  decently  as  possible.  But  I  was  beset  on 
all  sides  with  dirt  and  squalidnesss  :  these  perhaps  have 
in  fact  formed  the  greatest  of  my  sufferings.  My  head 
was  covered  with  the  bark  of  a  tree,  formed  into  the 
shape  of  a  hat  and  sewed  with  threads  of  bark ;  and 
shoes,  a  coat,  and  pantaloons,  such  as  are  used  by  Cana- 
dians in  the  Indian  territories,  and  formed  of  oiignal 
skins  sewed  together  by  thread  made  of  the  muscles  of 
that  animal,  completed  the  grotesque  appearance  of  my 
person.  I  am  indebted  for  my  new  wardrobe  to  the 
fair  Woascita,  who  had  compassion  on  the  nakedness 
to  which  the  thorns  and  brambles  of  the  forest  had 
reduced  me.  The  Indians  attach  a  high  value  to  the 
skins  of  the  orignal,  which  is  the  most  beautiful  of 
quadrupeds,  the  monarch  of  reindeer,  and  only  very 
rarely  to  be  met  with.  ***** 

"  My  Indians  announced  their  approach  in  the  cus- 
tomary manner,  that  is,  by  the  discharge  of  guns  loaded 
with  ball,  and  with  shouts  and  chants  accompanied  by 
the  sound  of  their  harmonious  drums. 

"  Melancholy  rumours  respecting  my  safetj'  had  been 
circulated  at  the  fort,  and  young  Snelling,  on  his  return 
to  it,  having  expressed  the  apprehensions  he  felt  on 
my  account  when  we  parted  at  Pembenar,  had  thus 
strengthened  the  behef  in  them.  These  gentlemen  in 
fact  supposed  me  to  be  dead. 

"  On  the  arrival  of  the  flotilla  all  the  officers  hastened 
down  to  inquire  about  me.  They  were  answered  by 
tlie  supposed  dead  man  himself.  While  replying  to 
their  kind  questions  I  divested  myself  of  the  skin 
covering  which  I  had  on,  in  the  disguise  of  an  Indian ; 
a  character  which  my  countenance  and  general  appear- 


380  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

ance  greatly  contributed  to  my  supporting.  I  saw  in 
the  expression  of  their  physiognomies  both  a  movement 
of  surprise,  and  sentiments  of  affection  and  friendship. 
The  excellent  Mr.  Tagliawar  embraced  me  in  the  most 
cordial  manner,  and  the  colonel,  his  respectable  wife, 
and  his  children,  received  me  with  demonstrations  of 
the  most  lively  joy.  I  was  much  moved,  and  could  not 
help  shedding  tears  of  gratitude  and  attachment.  This 
was  the  first  time  since  fate  began  to  steep  my  exist- 
ence in  anguish  that  I  beheld  a  gleam  of  those  happy 
moments  which,  in  Italy,  friendship  always  procured  for 
me  whenever  I  returned  from  my  occasional  absences. 
And  during  the  short  time  that  I  remained  among  them 
I  experienced  nothing  of  the  constraint,  nothing  of  the 
cold  and  formal  politeness  which  Americans  in  general 
are  accustomed  to  affect,  particularly  towards  strangers, 
and  which,  like  a  moral  rust,  tarnishes  their  natural 
benevolence  and  impairs  the  value  of  their  hospitality." 

Dr.  Norwood,  who  was  the  assistant  of  Dr.  Owens,  in 
the  United  States'  Geological  Survey  of  Minnesota, 
speaking  of  his  route  from  Cass  Lake,  says : — 

"  Our  route  from  this  place  led  through  Turtle  river, 
and  the  chain  of  lakes  described  by  Mr.  J.  C.  Beltrami, 
in  1823,  as  the  'Julian  sources  of  the  Mississippi.'  * 
*  *  *  *  The  map  sketched  by  him  is  a  tolerably 
correct  one,  and  appears  to  have  been  the  source  from 
which  Mr.  Nicollet  derived  his  information  with  regard 
to  the  route  between  Cass  and  Red  Lakes."  ^ 

In  the  language  of  Nicollet,  the  last  explorer  of  the 
extreme  western  source  of  the  Mississippi,  "  I  may  be 
mistaken,  but  it  strikes  me  that  American  critics  have 
been  too  disdainful  of  Mr.  Beltrami's  book." 

^  Owens'  Geological  Survey  of  Wisconsin,  Iowa,  and  Minnesota,  pp.  322-3. 


FINDLAY  KILLED  AT  LAKE  PEPIN.  381 

In  the  year  1824,  a  Mr.  Findlay  left  Prairie  du  Chien 
in  a  canoe,  and  ascended  the  Mississippi  in  company 
with  a  Canadian  named  Barrette,  and  two  others.  On 
their  arrival  at  Lake  Pepin,  they  were  met  by  an  Ojib- 
way  war  party  from  Lac  du  Flambeau.  The  Canadian 
thought  he  recognised  in  the  party  an  Indian,  who,  the 
the  previous  winter,  had  come  to  the  place  on  Black 
river  where  he  was  cutting  lumber,  and  stole  his  horse. 

Both  Findlay  and  Barrette  had  partaken  freely  of 
whiskey,  and,  quarrelling  with  the  Indians,  they  were 
all  killed,  and  their  goods  and  provisions  stolen. 

Until  the  American  Fur  Company  systematized  the 
trade  in  Minnesota,  and  Congress  took  measures  to 
exclude  whiskey  dealers  from  the  Indians,  trade  was 
carried  on  in  a  way  to  make  humanity  blush.  The  fol- 
lowing letter  of  Colonel  Snelling,  addressed  to  the  secre- 
tary of  war,  exhibits  the  disgraceful  condition  of  affairs 
at  that  time  : — 

"  In  former  letters  addressed  to  the  department  of 
war,  I  have  adverted  to  the  mischievous  consequences 
resulting  from  the  introduction  of  whiskey,  and  other 
distilled  spirits,  into  the  Indian  country.  The  pretext 
is,  that  our  traders  cannot  enter  into  successful  compe- 
tition with  the  British  traders  without  it.  If  the  sale 
of  whiskey  could  be  restricted  to  the  vicinity  of  the 
British  line,  the  mischief  would  be  comparatively  trivial, 
but,  if  permitted  at  all,  no  limits  can  be  set  to  it.  A 
series  of  petty  wars  and  murders,  and  the  introduction 
of  every  species  of  vice  and  debauchery,  by  the  traders 
and  their  engagees,  will  be  the  consequence.  It  be- 
comes, also,  a  fruitful  source  of  complaint  with  those 
engaged  in  the  same  trade  from  the  West.  The  traders 
who  obtain  their  supplies  from  St.  Louis,  pass  Fort  Snel- 
ling, where,  in  obedience  to  the  orders  I  have  received 


382  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

from  the  president,  their  boats  are  searched,  and  no 
spirituous  liquors  are  permitted  to  be  taken  further. 

"  The  traders  who  are  hcensed  for  the  lakes,  spread 
themselves  over  the  whole  country  between  Lake  Supe- 
rior and  the  Upper  Mississippi ;  their  whiskey  attracts 
a  large  proportion  of  the  Indians  to  their  trading-houses ; 
and  the  Western  traders  not  only  have  to  complain  of 
the  loss  of  custom,  but,  in  many  instances,  the  Indians 
who  have  obtained  their  goods  of  them,  are  seduced  by 
whiskey  to  carry  their  winter's  hunt  to  others.  This 
has  long  been  one  of  the  tricks  of  the  trade.  The 
traders,  who  ar^not  generally  restrained  by  any  moral 
rules,  after  they  pass  the  boundary,  practise  it  without 
scruple,  whenever  opportunity  occurs,  and  he  who  has 
the  most  whiskey  generally  carries  off  the  furs.  They 
are  so  far  from  being  ashamed  of  the  practice,  that  it 
affords  them  subject  for  conversation  by  their  winter 
fires.  I  have  myself  frequently  heard  them  boast  of 
their  exploits  in  that  way.  The  neighbourhood  of  the 
trading-houses  where  whiskey  is  sold  presents  a  disgust- 
ing scene  of  drunkenness,  debauchery,  and  misery.  In 
my  route  I  passed  Prairie  du  Chien,  Green  Bay,  and 
Mackinac;  no  language  can  describe  the  scenes  of  vice 
Avhich  there  present  themselves.  Herds  of  Indians  are 
drawn  together  by  the  fascinations  of  whiskej'',  and  they 
exhil^it  the  most  degraded  picture  of  human  nature  I 
ever  witnessed."  ^ 

^  Licensed  Indian  traders  among  Duncan  Campbell.  Falls  St.  Croix. 

Dahkotahs  in  1826  : —  John  Campbell,  Mouth  of  Chippe- 

P.  Prescott,  Leaf  River.  way. 

D.  Lamont,  Mouth  of  Minnesota.  Francis     Grandin,    Traverse   des 

J.  Renville,  Lac  qui  Parle.  Sioux. 

AVm.  Dickson,  Lac  Traverse.  Hagan  Moores,  Lac  Traverse. 

B.  F.  Baker,  Crow  Island,  Upper  Louis   Provencalle,  Traverse   des 

Mississippi.  Sioux. 


PRAIRIE  DU  CHIEN  TREATY  OF  1825.  383 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

For  more  than  a  century  there  had  been  a  westward 
tendency  m  the  emigration  of  the  Indian  nations,  and 
a  frequent  source  of  war  among  the  North-western 
tribes,  was  the  encroachment  upon  each  other's  hunting 
ground. 

In  the  hope  that  good  might  result  from  well  defined 
boundary  lines,  on  the  nineteenth  of  August,  1825,  by 
order  of  the  authorities  at  Washington,  Governor 
Clark,  of  Missouri,  and  Cass,  of  Michigan,  convened  at 
Prairie  du  Chien,  a  grand  Congress  of  Dahkotahs,  Ojib- 
ways,  Sauks,  and  Foxes,  Menomonies,  loways,  AVinne- 
bagoes,  Pottawottamies,  and  Ottawas. 

After  some  discussion,  it  was  agreed  between  the 
Dahkotahs  and  Ojibways,  that  the  line  dividing  their 
respective  countries,  should  commence  at  the  Chippewa 
river,  half  a  day's  march  below  the  falls,  and  from 
thence  to  Red  Cedar  river  just  below  the  falls,  and 
thence  to  the  Standing  Cedar,  a  day's  paddle  above  the 
head  of  Lake  St.  Croix;  thence  between  two  lakes 
called  by  the  Ojibways,  "Green  Lakes,"  and  the  Dah- 
kotahs, the  "Lakes  of  the  Buried  Eagles;"  and  from 
thence  to  the  Standing  Cedar  that  the  Dahkotahs  split; 
thence  to  Rum  river,  crossing  at  Choking  Creek,  a  day's 


384  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

march  from  its  mouth ;  thence  to  a  point  of  woods  that 
projects  into  the  prairie  a  half  day's  march  from  the 
Mississippi ;  thence  in  a  straight  line  to  the  mouth  of 
the  first  river  above  the  Sauk ;  thence  up  that  river  to 
a  small  lake  at  its  source;  thence  to  a  lake  at  the  head 
of  Prairie  river,  a  tributary  of  Crow  Wing ;  thence  to  the 
portage  of  Otter  Tail  Lake ;  thence  to  the  outlet  of  said 
lake;  thence  to  the  Buffalo  river,  midway  between  its 
source  and  mouth,  and  down  said  river  to  Red  river, 
and  do^vn  Red  river  to  the  mouth  of  the  Outard  creek. 

The  eastern  boundary  of  the  Dahkotahs,  was  to  com- 
mence opposite  the  loway  river,  running  back  to  the 
bluffs,  and  along  the  bluffs  to  Bad  Axe  river;  thence  to 
mouth  of  Black  river;  and  thence  to  half  a  day's  march 
below  the  falls  of  the  Chippewa. 

A  few  months,  after  the  treaty  of  Prairie  du  Chien,  it 
was  very  evident  that  neither  Dahkotah  nor  Ojibway 
were  willing  to  be  pent  up  by  any  boundary  lines. 

As  the  Ojibways  were  dispersed  over  a  great  extent  of 
country,  it  was  agreed  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  that  the 
government  of  the  United  States  should  convene  them 
in  1826,  at  some  point  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Superior. 
The  place  selected,  was  Fond  du  Lac ;  and  Lewis  Cass 
and  T.  L.  McKenney  were  the  commissioners  to  assemble 
the  Indians,  and  conclude  the  first  formal  treaty  on 
the  soil  of  Minnesota. 

On  the  twenty-eighth  of  July,  the  expedition  ap- 
proached in  their  barges,  with  flying  colours  and  mar- 
tial music,  the  trading  post  of  Fond  du  Lac ;  and  for  the 
first  time  the  ears  of  the  Indians  of  that  region  were 
greeted  with  the  tune  of  "Hail  Columbia."  On  the 
thirty-first,  the  commissioner,  McKenney,  went  over  to 
the  island  opposite  the  Fur  Company's  post,  to  visit  an 


VISIT  TO  A  WOMAN  SCALPED  WHEN  A  GIRL.  385 

Ojibway  woman  who  had  been  scalped  when  a  child, 
under  these  circumstances :  Having  accompanied  a  band 
of  sixty  men,  women,  and  children  to  the  vicinity  of 
the  falls  of  the  Chippeway  river,  they  were  surprised 
by  a  Dahkotah  war  party  which  rushed  down  from  the 
bluffs,  and  fired  into  their  lodges.  The  woman,  who 
was  then  only  fourteen  years  of  age,  ran  towards  the 
woods,  and  was  pursued  by  a  Dahkotah  brave,  who 
captured  and  bound  her. 

Just  then  another  Dahkotah  approached,  and  struck 
her  with  a  war  club,  scalped  her,  and  was  about  to  cut 
her  throat,  when  he  was  shot.  In  the  contest  for  the 
child,  each  warrior  had  taken  off  a  portion  of  her  scalp, 
and,  while  they  were  wrangling,  her  father  had  ap- 
proached and  fired  his  gun,  which  killed  both.  When 
the  shades  of  night  came,  he  went  to  the  spot  where  he 
had  last  seen  his  daughter,  recovered  the  pieces  of  her 
scalp,  and,  after  some  search,  foinid  her  senseless  on 
the  snow,  about  a  half  mile  from  the  scene  of  conflict. 
By  proper  attention  she  was  restored,  and  at  the  time 
of  the  treaty  of  Fond  du  Lac,  she  was  the  mother  of 
ten  children,  and  her  skull  still  bore  the  marks  of 
violence. 

On  the  second  of  August  the  council  met,  and  con- 
tinued several  days.  Among  those  who  took  a  seat  was 
an  aged  Ojibway  woman,  from  Montreal  river.  She 
wore  around  her  neck  her  husband's  medal,  and,  being 
very  poor,  in  the  place  of  wampum  she  laid  on  the  com- 
missioners' table  some  grass  and  porcupine  quills.  In  pre- 
senting them,  she  said  :  "  I  come  in  the  place  of  my  hus- 
band. He  is  old  and  blind,  but  he  yet  has  a  mouth  and 
ears.  He  can  speak  and  hear.  He  is  very  poor.  He 
hopes  to  receive  a  present  from  his  fathers." 

25 


386  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

After  the  usual  feastings  and  speeches,  and  exhaust- 
ing of  patience,  a  treaty  was  concluded  on  the  fifth  day 
of  August,  which,  with  some  modifications,  was  ratified 
by  the  United  States  Senate,  on  the  second  day  of  Feb- 
ruary of  the  next  year. 

By  an  article  of  the  treaty  the  Ojibways  fully  dis- 
claimed all  connexion  with  Great  Britain,  and  acknow- 
ledged the  authority  of  the  United  States.  At  the 
council  there  were  present  deputations  from  the  Min- 
nesota bands  at  Fond  du  Lac,  river  St.  Croix,  Rainy 
Lake,  Sandy  Lake,  Leech  Lake,  Snake  River,  and  Crow 
Wing. 

Supplementary  to  the  treaty  was  inserted  the  follow- 
ing clause.  "  As  the  Chippeways  who  committed  the 
murder  upon  four  American  citizens,  in  June,  1824, 
upon  the  shores  of  Lake  Pepin,  are  not  present  at  this 
council,  but  are  far  m  the  interior  of  the  country,  so 
that  they  cannot  be  apprehended  and  delivered  to  the 
proper  authority  before  next  summer ;  and  as  the  com- 
missioners have  been  specially  instructed  to  demand  the 
surrender  of  those  persons,  and  to  state  to  the  Chippe- 
way  tribe  the  consequence  of  suffering  such  a  flagitious 
outrage  to  go  unpunished,  it  is  agreed  that  the  persons 
guilty  of  the  aforementioned  murder  shall  be  brought 
in,  either  to  the  Sault  St.  Marie,  or  Green  Bay,  as  early 
next  summer  as  practicable." 

Governor  Cass,  having  determined  to  return  in  a  bark 
canoe,  contracted  with  a  son  of  the  scalped  woman  to 
build  one  of  suitable  dimensions,  about  five  feet  in  width, 
and  thirty-six  in  length.  Immediately  a  large  company 
of  squaws  and  children  commenced  the  work,  for  they 
are  the  mechanics  of  every  Indian  village.  Stakes  Avere 
driven  into  the  ground,  the  desired  length  of  the  canoe, 


CASS  ORDERS  A  BIRCH  CANOE.  387 

and  then  rolls  of  birch  bark  stripped  from  the  trees 
unbroken,  and  stitched  together  with  the  roots  of  the 
larch,  were  placed  within  the  enclosure  and  secured  to 
the  stakes.  Cross  pieces  of  cedar  are  now  inserted,  pro- 
ducing the  desired  form,  and  constituting  the  ribs  or 
framework.  The  birch  bark  properly  secured  to  the 
frame,  the  stakes  are  pulled  out  of  the  ground,  and  the 
seams  covered  with  resin  that  the  water  should  not 
enter.  Aft^r  some  ornamenting  of  the  sides,  it  was 
ready  for  delivery  to  Mr.  Cass. 

"  Thus  the  birch  oanoe  was  builded, 
In  the  valley,  by  the  river, 
In  the  bosom  of  the  forest ; 
And  the  forest's  life  was  in  it, 
All  its  mystery,  and  its  magic. 
All  the  lightness  of  the  birch  tree. 
All  the  toughness  of  the  cedar. 
All  the  larch's  supple  sinews  ; 
And  it  floated  on  the  river, 
Like  a  yellow  leaf  in  Autumn, 
Like  a  yellow  water  lily." 

Not  long  after  the  treaty,  twenty-nine  Ojibways  sur- 
rendered themselves  at  Sault  St.  Marie.  After  an  exa- 
mination, seven  were  committed  for  trial,  and  confined 
at  Mackinaw.  At  the  next  term  of  court,  the  judge 
declined  trying  the  prisoners,  in  consequence  of  doubts 
of  jurisdiction ;  and,  during  the  next  winter,  they  cut 
their  way  out  of  the  log  jail,  and  escaped  to  their  dis- 
tant home. 

The  year  of  the  treaty  of  Fond  du  Lac,  was  another 
remarkable  year  to  the  Selkirk  colony,  known  to  this 
day  as  the  year  of  the  flood. 

In  the  month  of  January,  it  was  rumored  at  the 
Selkirk  settlement,  that  the  hunters  who  were  on  the 


388  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

plains  of  Minnesota  in  quest  of  buffalo  were  starving. 
The  sufferers  were  from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two 
hundred  miles  from  Pembina,  and  the  only  w^ay  to 
carry  provisions  to  them  was  by  dog  sleds.  The  sym- 
pathy for  their  welfare  was  very  great;  and  even  the 
widow  contributed  a  mite  to  their  relief. 

It  appears  from  a  statement  made  by  one  who  was 
in  the  colony  at  the  time,  that  in  the  month  of  Decem- 
ber, 1825,  a  snow  storm  raged  with  violence  for  several 
days,  and  drove  the  buffalo  out  of  the  hunter's  reach. 
As  this  was  an  unexpected  contingency,  they  had  no 
meat  as  a  substitute,  and  famine  stared  them  in  the 
face. 

Says  an  eye-witness  :^  "  Families  here,  and  families 
there,  despairing  of  life,  huddled  themselves  together 
for  warmth,  and  in  too  many  cases,  their  shelter  proved 
their  grave.  At  first  the  heat  of  their  bodies  melted 
the  snow  ;  they  became  wet,  and  being  without  food  or 
fuel,  the  cold  soon  penetrated,  and  in  several  instances 
froze  the  whole  body  into  solid  ice.  Some  again  were 
in  a  state  of  actual  delirium,  while  others  were  picked 
up  frozen  to  death;  one  woman  was  found  with  an 
infant  on  her  back  within  a  quarter  mile  of  Pembina. 
This  poor  creature  must  have  travelled  at  the  least,  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  in  three  days  and  nights. 
Those  that  were  found  alive,  had  devoured  their  horses, 
their  dogs,  raw-hides,  leather,  and  their  very  shoes. 
So  great  were  their  sufferings,  that  some  died  on  the 
road  to  the  colony  after  being  relieved  at  Pembina.  One 
man  with  his  wife  and  three  children  were  dug  out  of 
the  snow  where  they  had  been  buried  for  five  days  and 

'  Alexander  Koss. 


FLOOD  AT  RED  RIVER  SETTLEMENT.  389 

nights  without  food,  fire,  or  light  of  the  sun,  and  the 
wife  and  two  of  the  children  recovered." 

When  the  spring  came,  the  melting  of  the  winter's 
snow  produced  a  still  greater  calamity.  On  the  second 
day  of  May,  in  twenty-four  hours,  the  Red  river  rose 
nine  feet;  and  by  the  fifth,  the  plains  were  submerged. 
A  panic  now  seized  every  living  thing ;  dogs  howled, 
cattle  lowed,  children  cried,  mothers  wept  and  wrung 
their  hands,  and  fathers  called  out  to  their  families  to 
escape  to  the  hills.  The  water  continued  to  rise  until 
the  twenty-first,  and  houses  and  barns  floated  in  the 
rushing  waters.  On  one  night  a  house  in  flames  moved 
over  the  waters  amid  logs  and  uprooted  trees,  house- 
hold furniture,  and  drowning  cattle,  reminding  one  of 
the  day  when  "the  heavens  being  on  fire,  shall  be 
dissolved." 

The  waters  began  to  abate  in  June;  and  such  is  the 
surprising  quickness  with  which  vegetation  matures 
five  degrees  of  latitude  north  of  St.  Paul,  that  barley, 
potatoes,  and  wheat  sowed  on  the  twenty-second  of 
June,  came  to  maturity. 

Misled  by  the  florid  representations  of  one  of  Lord 
Selkirk's  agents,  a  number  of  Swiss  arrived  in  the 
colony,  in  1821.  Their  occupations  had  been  mechani- 
cal, chiefly  that  of  clock  making,  and  they  were  not 
adapted  for  the  stern  work  of  founding  a  colony  in  the 
interior  of  the  North  American  continent. 

From  year  to  year  their  spirits  drooped,  and,  when 
the  Switzers'  song  of  home  was  sung,  they  could  not 
keep  back  their  tears. 

After  the  flood,  they  could  no  longer  remain  in  the 
land  of  their  adversity,  and  they  became  the  pioneers 
in  emigration  and  agriculture  in  the  state  of  Minnesota. 


390 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


At  one  time  a  party  of  two  hundred  and  forty-three  de- 
parted for  the  United  States,  who  found  homes  at  dif- 
ferent points  on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi. 

Before  the  eastern  wave  of  emigration  had  ascended 
beyond  Prairie  du  Chien,  the  Swiss  had  opened  farms 
on  and  near  St.  Paul,^  and  should  be  recognised  as  the 
first  actual  settlers  in  the  country. 

The  same  year  of  the  flood  at  the  Red  River  settle- 
ment, on  the  twenty-seventh  of  May,  two  or  three  hun- 
dred Ojibways  had  floated  down  the  Mississippi  in  their 
canoes,  and  encamped  near  a  tradmg-house,  on  the  side 
of  the  Mississippi  opposite  the  fort,  the  ruins  of  which 
may  be  seen  east  of  the  ferry-road,  on  the  river  bottom. 


^  Stevens,  in  an  address  on  the 
early  history  of  Hennepin  county, 
says : — 

"  Strange  as  it  may  appear,  the 
immigrants  were  from  the  north,  all 
from  the  Hudson  Bay  Territory, 
from  which  they  had  been  driven  by 
high  water.  This  colony  consisted 
of  Louis  Massey,  Mr.  Perry,  Pierrie, 
Garvas,  and  others.  Most  of  them 
are  now  citizens  of  different  parts  of 
the  territory  and  Wisconsin.  They 
settled  near  where  the  St.  Louis 
house  now  stands,  and  in  the  vicinity 
of  Kittson's  and  Baker's  landing. 
Owing  to  the  arbitrary  and  tyranni- 
cal power  which  then  held  sway  in 
the  territory,  they  were  driven  from 
their  homes  in  1836  and  '37.  At 
that  time,  and  both  before  and 
since,  the  commanding  oflBcers  at 
the  fort  were  the  lords  of  the  north. 
They  ruled  supreme.  The  citizens 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  fort 
were  liable  at  any  time  to  be  thrust 
into   the    guard-house.     While    the 


chief  of  the  fort  was  the  king,  the 
subordinate  officers  were  princes, 
and  persons  have  been  deprived  of 
their  liberty  and  imprisoned  by 
those  tyrants  for  the  most  trivial 
wrong  or  some  imaginary  offence. 
Some  had  their  houses  torn  down ; 
others  were  more  unfortunate,  and 
had  their  buildings  burnt.  To  the 
latter  class  Mr.  Garvas  belonged. 
Mr.  Perry  was  the  Abraham  of 
Hennepin  county.  He  resided  in 
front  of  the  slaughter-house,  near 
the  landing.  He  pitched  his  tent 
after  being  driven  off  of  his  first 
home  on  the  bank  of  the  brook  be- 
tween the  cave  and  St.  Paul.  Here 
he  attended  to  his  numerous  flocks 
and  cultivated  a  field,  and  I  think 
died  below  St.  Paul,  near  where  the 
large  hotel  was  burnt  a  year  or  two 
since.  He  was  a  Swiss  by  birth. 
At  one  time  he  owned  more  cattle 
than  all  the  rest  of  the  inhabitants 
of  what  is  now  Minnesota,  if  we  ex- 
cept Mr.  Renville." 


DASTARDLY  ATTACK  OF  DAHKOTAHS.  391 

They  visited  the  fort  for  the  purpose  of  smoking  the 
pipe  of  peace  with  the  Indian  agent,  and  receiving  the 
presents  which  were  annually  distributed  by  the  United 
States  government.  Their  tent-poles  were  scarcely 
planted  before  their  arrival  was  noised  among  the  Dah- 
kotah  villages  in  the  vicinity. 

In  a  few  hours  men  in  canoes  were  seen  descending 
the  Minnesota,  and  furious  with  excitement  they  entered 
the  slough,  on  the  shores  of  which  the  Ojibways  were 
encamped,  and  commenced  an  attack  upon  the  unsus- 
pecting Ojibways,  scalping  their  women  and  children  in 
sight  of  the  windows  of  the  officers'  quarters,  and  the 
soldiers  of  the  garrison.  Their  butchery  completed, 
they  landed  under  the  Avails  of  the  fort,  and  singing 
their  triumphal  songs,  proceeded  to  the  undulating 
prairie  just  beyond,  and  danced  around  the  reeking 
scalps  they  had  taken.  As  the  country  was  as  yet 
unceded,  the  United  States  officers  had  no  proper  right 
of  interference. 

The  following  autumn  the  Ojibway  chief  Flat  Mouth, 
of  Sandy  Lake,  with  seven  warriors,  and  women  and 
children,  the  whole  party  amounting  to  twenty-four, 
arrived  at  Fort  Snelling  one  morning  at  day-break. 
Walking  to  the  gates  of  the  garrison,  they  asked  the 
protection  of  Colonel  Snelling  and  Taliaferro,  the  In- 
dian agent.  They  were  told,  that  as  long  as  they  re- 
mained under  the  United  States  flag,  they  were  secure, 
and  were  ordered  to  encamp  within  musket  shot  of  the 
high  stone  walls  of  the  fort. 

During  the  afternoon  a  Dahkotah,  Toopimkah  Zeze, 
from  a  village  near  the  first  rapids  of  the  Minnesota, 
with  eight  others,  visited  the  Ojibway  camp.  They 
were  cordially  received,  and  a  feast  of  meat,  and  com, 


392  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

and  sugar,  was  soon  made  ready.  The  wooden  platters 
emjDtied  of  their  contents,  they  engaged  in  conversation, 
and  whiffed  the  peace  pipe. 

About  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening  they  rose  and  de- 
parted ;  but  as  soon  as  they  were  outside,  turned  and 
discharged  their  guns  with  deadly  aim  upon  their  enter- 
tainers, and  ran  off  with  a  shout  of  satisfaction.  The 
report  was  heard  by  the  sentinel  of  the  fort,  and  he 
cried,  repeatedly,  "  Corporal  of  the  guard !"  and  soon  at 
the  gates,  were  the  Ojibways,  with  their  women  and 
the  wounded,  telling  their  tale  of  woe  in  wild  and 
incoherent  language.  Among  others,  was  a  little  girl 
about  seven  years  old,  who  was  pierced  through  both 
thighs  with  a  bullet. 

Flat  Mouth,  the  chief,  reminded  Colonel  Snelling  that 
he  had  been  attacked  while  under  the  protection  of  the 
United  States  flag,  and  early  the  next  morning.  Captain 
Clark,  with  one  hundred  soldiers,  proceeded  toward 
Land's  End,  a  trading-post  of  the  Columbia  Fur  Com- 
pany, on  the  Minnesota,  a  mile  above  the  present  resi- 
dence of  Franklin  Steele,  where  the  Dahkotahs  were 
supposed  to  be.  The  soldiers  had  just  left  the  large 
gate  of  the  fort,  when  a  party  of  Dahkotahs,  in  battle 
array,  appeared  on  one  of  the  prairie  hills.  After  some 
parleying  they  turned  their  backs,  and  being  pursued, 
thirty-two  were  captured  near  the  trading-post. 

Colonel  Snelling  ordered  the  prisoners  to  be  brought 
before  the  Ojibways,  and  two  being  pointed  out  as  par- 
ticipants in  the  slaughter  of  the  preceding  night,  they 
were  delivered  to  the  aggrieved  party  to  be  dealt  with 
in  accordance  with  their  customs.  They  were  led  out 
to  the  plain  in  front  of  the  gate  of  the  fort,  and  when 
placed  nearly  without  the  range  of  the  Ojibway  guns, 


OJIBWAY  RETALIATION.  393 

they  were  told  to  run  for  their  lives.  With  the  rapidity 
of  deer  they  bounded  awa}^  but  the  Ojibway  bullet  flew" 
faster,  and  after  a  few  steps,  they  fell  gasping  on  the 
ground,  and  were  soon  lifeless.  Then  the  savage  nature 
displayed  itself  in  all  its  hideousness.  Women  and 
children  danced  for  joy,  and  placing  their  fingers  in  the 
bullet  holes,  from  which  the  blood  oozed,  they  licked 
them  with  delight.  The  men  tore  the  scalps  from  the 
dead,  and  seemed  to  luxuriate  in  the  privilege  of  plung- 
ing their  knives  through  the  corpses.  After  the  execu- 
tion, the  Ojibways  returned  to  the  fort,  and  Avere  met 
by  the  colonel.  He  had  prevented  all  over  whom  his 
authority  extended  from  witnessing  the  scene,  and  had 
done  his  best  to  confine  the  excitement  to  the  Indians. 
The  same  day  a  deputation  of  Dahkotah  warriors  re- 
ceived audience,  regretting  the  violence  that  had  been 
done  by  their  young  men,  and  agreeing  to  deliver  up 
the  ringleaders. 

At  the  time  appointed,  a  son  of  Flat  Mouth,  with 
those  of  the  Ojibway  party  that  were  not  wounded,  es- 
corted by  United  States  troops,  marched  forth  to  meet 
the  Dahkotah  deputation,  on  the  prairie  just  beyond 
the  old  residence  of  the  Indian  agent.  AVith  much 
solemnity  two  more  of  the  guilty  were  handed  over  to 
the  assaulted.  One  was  fearless,  and  with  firmness 
stripped  himself  of  his  clothing  and  ornaments,  and 
distributed  them.  The  other  could  not  face  death  with 
composure.  He  was  noted  for  a  hideous  hare-lip,  and 
had  a  bad  reputation  among  his  fellows.  In  tlie  sphit 
of  a  coward  he  prayed  for  life,  to  the  mortification  of 
his  tribe.  The  same  opportunity  was  presented  to 
them  as  to  the  first,  of  running  for  their  lives.  At  the 
first  fire  the  coward  fell  a  corpse ;  but  his  brave  com- 


394  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

paiiion,  though  Avounded,  ran  on,  and  had  nearly  reached 
the  goal  of  safety,  when  a  second  bullet  killed  him. 
The  body  of  the  coward  now  became  a  common  object 
of  loathing  for  both  Dahkotahs  and  Ojibways. 

Colonel  Snelling  told  the  Ojibways  that  the  bodies 
must  be  removed,  and  then  they  took  the  scalped  Dah- 
kotahs, and  dragging  them  by  the  heels,  threw  them  off 
the  bluff,  into  the  river  a  hundred  and  fifty  feet  beneath. 
The  dreadful  scene  was  now  over ;  and  a  detachment 
of  troops  was  sent  with  the  old  chief  Flat  Mouth,  to 
escort  him  out  of  the  reach  of  Dahkotah  vengeance. 
.  In  the  fall  of  1826,  all  the  troops  at  Prairie  du  Chien 
had  been  removed  to  Fort  Snelling,  the  commander 
taking  with  him  two  Winnebagoes  that  had  been  con- 
fined in  Fort  Crawford.  After  the  soldiers  left  the 
Prairie,  the  Indians  in  the  vicinity  were  quite  insolent. 
About  this  period  a  bois  brule  from  Red  river,  named 
Methode,  came  to  the  Prairie  to  reside.  In  the  month 
of  March,  1827,  he  went  to  Painted  Rock  creek,  a  few 
miles  above  on  the  Iowa  side,  accompanied  by  his  family, 
for  the  purpose  of  making  maple  sugar.  He  not  re- 
turning as  soon  as  was  expected,  search  was  instituted 
by  his  friends,  when  they  found  him,  his  children,  and 
his  wife  with  an  unborn  infant,  nearly  burned  to  cin- 
ders in  their  camp — the  work  of  hostile  savages. 

At  the  time  of  the  shooting  of  the  Dahkotahs  at  Fort 
Snelling,  Red  Bird,  a  distinguished  Winnebago  chief, 
whose  residence  was  often  on  Black  river,  Wisconsin, 
was  on  a  war  party  against  the  Ojibways,  in  which  he 
was  unsuccessful.  In  some  way  the  Winnebagoes  gained 
the  impression  that  two  of  their  own  number  who  were 
confined  at  Fort  Snelling,  had  been  delivered  to  the 


RED  BIRDS  VIOLENCE  AT  PRAIRIE  DU  CHIEN.  395 

Ojibwavs  and  scalped ;  and  from  that  hour  they  became 
hostile  to  the  whites. 

On  the  26th  of  June,  1827,  Red  Bird,  with  two  other 
Indians,  entered  the  dwelling  of  a  trader  at  Prairie  du 
Chien  by  the  name  of  Lockwood,  who  was  absent,  and 
loading  their  guns  in  the  kitchen,  proceeded  to  the  bed- 
room of  his  wife.  On  their  entrance,  she  crossed  the 
hall  into  the  store,  where  she  found  Duncan  Graham,  a 
man  of  influence  with  the  Indians,  who  induced  them 
to  leave.  Thirsting  for  blood,  they  proceeded  in  an 
easterly  direction  to  a  place  called  McNair's  Coulee, 
where  there  was  an  isolated  log  cabin,  in  which  dwelt  a 
man  of  mulatto  and  French  extraction,  named  Gagnier. 
As  Red  Bird  and  his  companions  entered,  Gagnier  was 
sitting  on  a  chest,  and  near  the  window ;  his  wife,  of 
French  and  Dahkotah  extraction,  was  washing;  while 
on  the  bed  lay  an  infant  sleeping.  In  the  cabin  there 
was  also  a  discharged  soldier. 

Treated  with  civility,  they  were  asked  if  they  would 
have  something  to  eat.  While  the  wife  was  procuring 
refreshments,  she  heard  the  click  caused  by  the  cocking 
of  Red  Bird's  rifle,  and  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  there 
was  a  discharge  and  her  husband  was  dead.  One  of 
the  other  two  Indians  shot  the  soldier,  and  the  third, 
named  Wekaw,  had  his  rifle  wrested  from  him  by  the 
desperate  wife.  Unable  to  cope  with  three  furious 
savages,  she  ran  to  the  village  and  gave  the  alarm. 
Returning  with  a  company  of  armed  men,  she  found 
her  infant  with  its  head  scalped,  and  neck  cut,  in  the 
bed  and  still  alive.  Recovering  from  these  wounds, 
the  daughter  still  lives,  and  is  now  a  grandmother. 

A  little  while  iDefore  this  murderous  assault  two  keel- 
boats  had  passed  Prairie  du  Chien,  on  their  way  to  Fort 


396  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

Snelling  with  provisions.  When  they  reached  Wapashaw 
village,  on  the  site  of  the  present  town  of  Winona,  they 
were  ordered  to  come  ashore  by  the  Dahkotahs.  Com- 
pljdng,  they  found  themselves  surrounded  by  Indians, 
with  hostile  intentions.  The  boatmen  had  no  fire-arms, 
but  assuming  a  bold  mien,  and  a  defiant  voice,  the  cap- 
tain of  the  keel-boats  ordered  the  savages  to  leave  the 
decks,  which  was  successful.  The  boats  pushed  on,  and 
at  Red  Wing  and  Kaposia  the  Indians  showed  that  they 
were  not  friendly,  though  they  did  not  molest  the  boats. 
Before  they  started  on  their  return  from  Fort  Snelling, 
the  men  on  board,  amounting  to  thirty-tAvo,  were  all 
provided  with  muskets,  and  a  barrel  of  ball  cartridges. 
When  the  descending  keel-boats  passed  Wapashaw, 
the  Dahkotahs  were  engaged  in  the  war  dance,  and 
menaced  them  but  made  no  attack.  Below  this  point 
one  of  the  boats  moved  in  advance  of  the  other,  and 
when  near  the  mouth  of  the  Bad  Axe  the  half-breeds 
on  board  descried  hostile  Indians  on  the  banks.  As 
the  channel  neared  the  shore  the  sixteen  men  on  the 
first  boat  were  greeted  with  the  war  whoop,  and  a  vol- 
ley of  rifle  balls  from  the  excited  Winnebagoes,  killing 
two  of  the  crew.  Rushing  into  their  canoes,  the 
Indians  made  the  attempt  to  board  the  boat,  and  two 
were  successful.  One  of  these  stationed  himself  at  the 
bow  of  the  boat,  and  fired  with  killing  effect  on  the  men 
below  deck.  An  old  sailor  of  the  last  war  with  Great 
Britain,  called  Saucy  Jack,  at  last  despatched  him,  and 
began  to  rally  the  fainting  spirits  on  board.  During  the 
fight  the  boat  had  stuck  on  a  sand-bar.  With  four 
companions,  amid  a  shower  of  balls  from  the  savages, 
he  plunged  into  the  water  and  pushed  off  the  boat,  and 
thus  moved  out  of  reach  of  the  galling  shots  of  the 


ATTACK  ON  KEEL-BOATS.  397 

Winnebagoes.  As  they  floated  down  the  river  during 
the  night,  they  heard  a  wail  in  a  canoe  behind  them, 
the  voice  of  a  father  mourning  the  death  of  the  son, 
who  had  scaled  the  deck,  and  was  now  a  corpse  in  pos- 
session of  the  white  men.  The  rear  boat  passed  the  Bad 
Axe  river  late  in  the  night,  and  escaped  an  attack. 

It  was  the  day  after  the  murder  of  Gagnier  and  Lip- 
cap,  the  soldier,  that  the  first  keel-boat  arrived  at 
Prairie  du  Chien,  with  two  of  their  crew  dead,  four 
wounded,  and  the  Indian  that  had  been  killed  on  the 
boat.  The  two  dead  men  had  been  residents  of  the 
Prairie,  and  now  the  panic  was  increased.  On  the 
morning  of  the  twenty-eighth  of  June  the  second  keel- 
boat  appeared,  and  among  her  passengers  was  Joseph 
Snelling,  a  talented  son  of  the  colonel,  who  wrote  a 
story  of  deep  interest,  based  on  the  facts  narrated. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  citizens  it  was  resolved  to  repair 
old  Fort  Crawford,  and  Thomas  McNair  was  appointed 
captain.  Dirt  was  thrown  around  the  bottom  logs  of 
the  fortification  to  prevent  its  being  fired,  and  young 
Snelling  was  put  in  command  of  one  of  the  block- 
houses. On  the  next  day  a  voyageur  named  Loyer,  and 
the  well  known  trader  Duncan  Graham,  started  through 
the  interior,  west  of  the  Mississippi,  with  intelligence 
of  the  murders,  to  Fort  Snelling.  A  company  of 
volunteers  soon  arrived  from  Galena,  and  a  few  days 
after  four  companies  of  the  fifth  regiment  from  Fort 
Snelling,  with  Colonel  Snelling  in  command.  The  citi- 
zens had  seized  De-kau-ray,  a  Winnebago  chief,  and  re- 
tained him  as  a  hostage. 

Governor  Cass,  at  the  time  of  these  occurrences,  was 
at  Butte  des  Morts,  for  the  purpose  of  negotiating  a 
treaty,  and,  proceeding  immediately  to  Jefferson  Bar- 


398  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

racks,  a  large  body  of  troops,  under  General  Atkinson, 
were  soon  on  their  way  to  the  scene  of  excitement.  A 
detachment  from  Green  Bay,  under  Major  Whistler, 
also  moved  up  to  the  portage  of  the  Fox  and  ^yisconsin 
rivers.  The  Winnebagoes  were  not  prepared  to  engage 
in  war  with  the  United  States,  and  it  was  decided  in 
council  that  Red  Bird  and  We-Kaw  should  surrender 
themselves  to  Major  Whistler. 

Colonel  McKinney  describes  the  scene  in  this  lan- 
guage :  "  On  the  right  was  the  band  of  music,  a  little  in 
advance  of  the  line.  In  front  of  the  centre,  about  ten 
paces  distant,  were  the  murderers.  *  *  *  *  All 
eyes  were  fixed  on  Red  Bird,  and  well  they  might  be, 
for  of  all  the  Indians  I  ever  saw,  he  is,  without  excep- 
tion, the  most  perfect  in  form,  in  face,  and  gesture.  In 
height  he  is  above  six  feet;  straight,  but  without  re- 
straint. His  proportions  are  of  the  most  exact  sym- 
metry ;  his  very  fingers  are  models  of  beauty.  I  never 
beheld  a  face  that  was  so  full  of  all  the  ennobling,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  the  most  winning  expression, 

"  During  my  attempted  analysis  of  his  face,  I  could 
not  but  ask  myself,  Can  this  man  be  a  murderer  ?  Is  he 
the  same  who  shot,  scalf)ed,  and  cut  the  throat  of 
Gagnier  ?  There  was  no  ornamenting  of  the  hair  after 
the  Indian  fashion,  but  it  was  cut  after  the  civilized 
manner.  His  face  was  painted ;  one  side  red,  the  other 
intermixed  with  green  and  white.  Around  his  neck  he 
wore  a  collar  of  blue  wampum,  beautifully  mixed  with 
white,  which  was  sewed  to  a  piece  of  cloth,  the  width 
of  the  wampum  being  about  two  inches, — while  the 
claws  of  the  wild-cat,  distant  from  each  other  about  a 
quarter  of  an  inch,  with  their  points  inward,  formed 
the  rim  of  the  collar.     He  was  clothed  in  a  Yankton 


IMPRISONMENT  AND  DEATH  OF  RED  BIRD.  399 

dress,  new  and  beautiful.  The  material  is  of  dressed 
elk  or  deer  skin,  almost  a  pure  white.  ***** 
Across  his  breast,  in  a  diagonal  position,  and  bound 
tight  to  it,  was  his  war  pipe,  brightly  ornamented  with 
dyed  horse-hair,  the  feathers  and  bills  of  birds.  In  one 
of  his  hands  he  held  the  white  flag,  in  the  other  the 
calumet  of  peace.  There  he  stood.  Not  a  muscle 
moved,  nor  was  the  expression  of  his  face  changed  a 
particle.  He  and  We-Kaw  were  told  to  sit  down.  His 
motions  as  he  seated  himself  were  no  less  graceful  and 
captivating,  than  when  he  stood  or  walked.  At  this 
moment  the  band  struck  up  Plejel's  Hymn.  Every- 
thing was  still.  It  was  a  moment  of  intense  interest  to 
all." 

The  ceremony  of  surrender  now  took  place.  The 
Winnebagoes  asked  kind  treatment  of  the  prisoners,  and 
begged  that  they  might  not  be  ironed.  Major  Whistler 
said  in  reply  that  he  would  treat  them  with  considerar 
tion,  and  Red  Bird  standing  up  said :  "  I  am  ready," 
and  was  immediately  marched  off  with  his  accomplice 
to  a  tent  in  the  rear  and  placed  under  guard. 

The  prisoners  ha^ang  been  handed  over  to  General 
Atkinson,  who  had  arrived,  were  conveyed  to  Prairie 
du  Chien,  and  delivered  to  the  civil  authorities.  There 
they  were  chained  and  placed  m  close  confinement,  which 
so  chafed  the  proud  spirit  of  Red  Bird,  that  he  soon 
drooped,  and  at  last  died  with  a  broken  heart. 


400  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

In  the  year  1830,  steps  were  taken  for  another  con- 
gress of  tribes  at  Prairie  du  Chien.  A  few  weeks  pre- 
vious to  the  convocation,  a  party  of  Dahkotahs  and 
Menomonees  surprised  a  band  of  Foxes,  who  were  eat- 
ing their  dinner  on  an  island  in  the  Mississippi,  a  short 
distance  below  the  Wisconsin,  and  killed  eight  of  their 
chief  men.  On  this  account  the  Fox  tribe  refused  to 
be  present  at  the  council  at  Prairie  du  Chien.  The 
M'dewakantonwan  Dahkotahs,  in  a  treaty  made  on  this 
occasion,  bestowed  on  their  relatives  of  mixed  blood  that 
tract  about  Lake  Pepin  known  as  the  half-breed  tract. ^ 

During  this  year  another  attempt  was  made  to  erect 
a  mill  on  the  Chippeway  river,  Wisconsin.  In  the 
month  of  May,  workmen  proceeded  to  the  old  site  on 
the  Menomonee.  Three  or  four  Ojibways  arrived  one 
night  and  told  them  if  they  did  not  leave  they  would 
kill  them.  The  superintendent  (Armstrong)  was  so 
much  alarmed  that  he  took  a  canoe  and  floated  down 

^  The  tract  is  described  ia  said  Lake  Pepin  and  the  Mississippi, 
treaty  as  follows:  "Beginning  at  a  about  thirty-two  miles  to  a  point 
place  called  the  Barn,  below  and  opposite  Beef  or  O'Beuf  river,  thence 
near  the  village  of  the  Red  Wing  fifteen  miles,  to  the  Grand  Encamp- 
Chief,  and  running  back  fifteen  ment,  opposite  the  river  aforesaid." 
miles,  thence  in  a  parallel  line  with 


HOLMES  BUILDS  A  SAW-MILL.  401 

the  river  the  same  evening,  and  the  workmen  followed 
the  next  day. 

Li  August,  one  of  the  proprietors  at  Prairie  du  Chien 
started  with  other  workmen ;  among  others,  a  discharged 
soldier  by  the  name  of  Holmes,^  under  whose  supervi- 
sion the  mill  was  at  last  constructed ;  and,  by  the  sum- 
mer of  the  next  year,  had  sawed  about  one  hundred 
thousand  feet  of  lumber. 

After  the  unprovoked  attack  on  the  part  of  the  Dah- 
kotahs,  which  has  been  related,  a  continual  border  war- 
fare prevailed  between  them  and  the  Ojibways  until 
1831.  War  parties  of  the  latter,  descending  the  Chip- 
peway  river,  constantly  lurked  around  the  shores  of 
Lake  Pepin,  in  the  hope  of  obtaining  Dahkotah  scalps, 
and  endangered  the  lives  of  white  men  ascending  or  de- 
scending the  Mississippi. 

During  the  month  of  April,  1831,  the  authorities  at 
Washington  instructed  H.  R.  Schoolcraft,  Indian  agent 
at  Sault  St.  Marie,  to  proceed  to  the  Upper  Mississippi, 
and  use  his  influence  to  make  peace  between  the  Dah- 
kotahs  and  Ojibways.  The  expedition  was  composed 
of  twenty-seven  men,  beside  a  few  soldiers  under  Lieu- 
tenant Clary. 

Ascending  the  Mushkeg  river,  which  enters  Lake 
Superior  below  Bayfield,  they  passed  Lake  Kagino,  and 
a  chain  of  small  lakes,  until  they  came  to  the  Name- 
kagon,  a  tributary  of  the  St.  Croix.  Descending  this 
stream  to  Lake  Pukwaewa,  they  found  a  village  of 
fifty-three  persons  under  Odabossa.  At  this  point  the 
expedition  divided,  a  part  going  to  Ottawa  Lake  by  a 
direct  route,  and  a  portion  accompanying  Mr.  School- 


This  gentleman  has  since  become  an  active  pioneer  in  Minnesota. 
26 


402  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

craft  down  the  Namekagon  to  its  junction  with  the  St. 
Croix,  and  down  that  stream  to  a  trading  post  at  Yellow 
river.  On  the  first  of  August,  Mr.  Schoolcraft  held  a 
council  with  the  Ojibways  at  this  point. 

The  Indians,  through  one  of  their  speakers,  referred 
to  an  attack  that  had  been  made  the  previous  year  by 
the  Dahkotahs,  on  a  band  of  Ojibways  and  bois  brules, 
in  which  four  of  their  friends  had  been  killed,  and  that 
the  Ojibways  had  not  been  in  the  habit  of  crossing  the 
boundary  line  mentioned  in  the  treaty  of  Prairie  du 
Chien. 

At  the  solicitation  of  Mr.  Schoolcraft,  Kabamappa, 
and  Shakoba  (the  war  chief  of  Snake  river),  consented 
to  bear  wampum  and  tobacco  to  the  Dahkotah  chiefs 
at  Kaposia  and  Wapashaw  village,  and  invite  them  to 
renew  the  league  of  friendship. 

On  the  fifth  of  August,  the  two  detachments  of  the 
expedition  were  re-united  at  Ottawa  Lake,  w^hen  an- 
other council  was  held  at  the  trading-post  with  the 
Indians. 

At  Lake  Chetac,  they  found  the  trading-house  burned, 
and  village  deserted;  and  while  breakfasting  on  the 
shores  of  a  little  lake  below  this,  eight  canoes  filled 
w^ith  a  returning  war  party  floated  into  the  lake.  They 
were  young  braves  from  Ottawa  Lake,  and  had  been  in 
pursuit  of  Dahkotahs  near  the  mill  which  had  recently 
been  erected.  On  the  seventh  of  August,  the  expedi- 
tion arrived  at  Eice  Lake,  the  residence  of  a  band  of 
warlike  Ojibways,  much  exposed  to  the  Dahkotahs, 
because  they  were  on  the  verge  of  the  Dahkotah  pos- 
sessions. 

The  young  chief  Neenaba  claimed  that  the  saw-mills 
just  erected  on  the  Red  Cedar  branch  of  the  Chippeway 


NEENABA'S  SPEECH.  403 

were  on  their  lands,  though  the  Dahkotahs  had  granted 
permission,  for  a  certain  consideration,  to  the  owners. 

At  the  request  to  drop  his  war  club,  he  was  confused, 
and  would  not  receive  the  proffered  presents  of  a  medal 
and  flag  until  he  was  pressed  by  his  young  warriors. 
On  the  next  day  he  came,  followed  by  his  braves,  with 
the  flag  on  one  arm  and  the  war  club  in  the  other  hand, 
and  stated  that  while  he  accepted  the  one,  he  did  not 
drop  the  other.  "He  had  reflected  upon  the  advice 
sent  by  the  President,  and  particularly  that  part  of  it 
which  counselled  them  to  sit  still  upon  their  lands,  but 
while  they  sat  still,  they  wished  also  to  be  certain  that 
their  enemies  would  sit  still." 

After  this  interview,  Mr.  Schoolcraft  visited  the  mills 
on  the  Red  Cedar  river,  Avhich  were  then  in  charge  of 
Mr.  Wallace. 

In  1832,  instructions  were  again  issued,  ordering  Mr. 
Schoolcraft  to  visit  the  tribes  toward  the  sources  of  the 
Mississippi.  Attached  to  the  expedition,  was  the  late 
Dr.  Douglass  Houghton,  as  botanist,  geologist,  and  sur- 
geon, and  the  Rev.  W.  T.  Bout  well,  now  of  Washing- 
ton county,  who  was  appointed  by  the  American  Board 
of  Commissioners  of  Foreign  Missions,  to  explore  the 
field,  to  observe  the  condition  of  the  Indians,  and  the 
practicability  of  establishing  mission  stations.  The 
military  escort  was  in  command  of  Lieutenant  James 
Allen. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  twenty-third  of  June,  the 
Fond  du  Lac  trading-house  on  the  St.  Louis  river, 
about  twenty  miles  from  the  mouth,  was  reached.  This 
was  formerly  the  head-quarters  of  the  fur  trade  west 
of  Lake  Superior ;  but  the  American  Fur  Company  re- 
moved their  depot  to  Sandy  Lake,  because  of  its  more 


404  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

central  situation.  This  department  of  tlie  Indian  trade, 
included  the  posts  at  Fond  du  Lac,  Grand  Portage, 
Rainy  Lake,  Vermillion  Lake,  Eed  Lake,  Pembina,  Red 
Cedar,  Leech,  and  Sandy  Lakes.  The  value  of  furs 
from  all  these  posts  in  1832,  was  about  twenty-five 
thousand  dollars. 

On  the  twenty-first  of  June,  the  party  were  at  La 
Pointe.  The  chief  trader  of  the  place,  was  the  father 
of  the  late  Mr.  Warren,  who  had  thirty  or  forty  acres 
under  cultivation.  Among  other  residents,  was  the 
father  of  his  wife,  Cadotte,  an  old  French  trader,  and 
the  Rev.  Sherman  Hall,  now  of  Sauk  Rapids,  then  a 
missionary  among  the  Ojibways.  His  child  was  said  to 
have  been  the  first  child  of  pure  European  parents  bom 
on  the  shores  of  Lake  Superior. 

On  the  twenty-fifth  of  June,  the  first  portage  on  the 
St.  Louis  river  was  made.  The  entire  length  of  it  is 
nine  miles,  and  it  was  necessary  to  commence  carrying 
the  baggage  and  provisions  up  a  very  steep  bluif ;  while 
the  experienced  voyageurs  ascended  with  ease,  bearing 
a  bag  of  flour  and  a  keg  of  pork,  the  raw  recruits  of 
the  expedition  had  stumbling  work. 

On  the  twenty-sixth,  in  the  midst  of  a  drenching 
rain,  the  men  with  heavy  loads  on  their  backs,  waded 
through  mud  and  water.  Some  Indian  women  who 
were  assisting  in  the  portage,  carried  at  once  a  bag  of 
flour,  a  trunk,  and  soldier's  knapsack,  surmounted  by  a 
nursing  infant  in  an  Indian  cradle.^  About  noon  of  the 
next  day  the  end  of  the  difficult  portage  was  reached. 

^  "  When  we  stopped  at  night  my  were  disabled,  and  all  of  them  were 

men,  and  even  the  Canadians,  were  galled  in  the  back   by  the  kegs  in 

literally  fagged  out.     Two   of  the  such  a  degree  as  to  make  their  loads 

soldiers  had  snagged  their  feet,  and  very  painful.     It  requires  an  expe- 


ENDURANCE  AND  STRENGTH  OF  SQUAWS.  405 

Heavy  rains  fell  on  the  first  and  second  of  July,  and 
in  reaching  the  portage  of  the  Savannah,  some  lost 
their  moccasins,  and  some  a  leg  of  their  pantaloons, 
and  all  were  covered  with  mud  to  their  waists,  so  that 
they  were  perfect  "sans  culottes"  when  they  camped  at 
the  end  of  the  carrying  place. 

On  the  afternoon  of  July  third,  reached  the  trad- 
ing-post of  Mr.  Aitkin  at  Sandy  Lake,  where  they 
were  welcomed  by  the  discharge  of  muskets,  and  the 
hoisting  of  the  American  flag.  On  the  ninth,  the  ex- 
pedition was  at  Lake  Winnibigoshish,  and  found  a 
trading-post  in  the  charge  of  Mr.  Belanger,  made  of 
logs,  with  windows  of  deer  skin,  surrounded  by  a  little 
garden,  in  which  were  growing  tobacco,  corn,  peas,  and 
potatoes.  On  the  tenth  they  entered  Cass  Lake,  which 
Mr.  Schoolcraft  visited  in  company  with  the  present 
secretary  of  state  in  1820.  Here  were  several  fine 
corn  fields,  which  had  been  cultivated  by  Indian  women. 
In  one  of  the  lodges  were  three  Dahkotah  scalps,  one  of 
which  had  been  lately  taken  by  the  Leech  Lake  Band. 
Flat  Mouth  and  one  hundred  warriors  had  gone  forth 
to  chastise  the  Dahkotahs  for  encroaching  on  his  hunt- 
ing grounds,  and  meeting  a  party  of  the  enemy  had 
killed  three  and  wounded  others.     In  the  aft'ray  a  Cass 

rience  of  years  to  habituate  men  to  tomed  to  it.     I  saw  a  small  young 

carrying  in  this  way,  and  the   life  Indian  woman   at   the  close  of  the 

and  habits  of  soldiers  by  no  means  day,  carry  a  keg  of  one  thousand 

fit   them   fur   such   labour.     I    had  musket  ball  cartridges,  for  a  distance 

four  or  five  Indian  women,  and  as  of   one   mile   without   resting,    and 

many  Indian  men  carrying  for  me,  most  of  the  distance  through  swamp 

and  without  these  I  could  not  have  that  was  frequently  over  her  knees, 

made  half  the  distance.     The  Indian  and   this  too,  after   having   carried 

women  carry  better  than  the  men,  heavy  loads  all  day." — Lt.  Allen's 

being  less  indolent  and  more  accus-  Journal. 


406  •  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

Lake  Ojibway  was  killed,  and  when  night  came  there 
was  a  grand  scalp  dance,  which  an  eye-witness  has  de- 
scribed : — 

"Before  I  had  returned  to  our  tent,  which  is  pitched 
but  a  few  yards  from  two  graves,  the  greater  part  of 
the  Indians  had  here  collected,  and  begun  the  scalp 
dance.  It  was  led  by  three  squaws,  each  bearing  in 
her  hand  one  of  the  recent  scalps.  Two  or  three  men 
sat  beating  drums  and  singing,  while  old  and  young, 
male  and  female,  all  joined  in  the  song.  Occasionally 
all  would  become  so  animated  that  there  would  be  one 
general  hop,  and  all  at  the  same  time,  throwing  their 
heads  back,  would  raise  a  most  horrid  yell,  clapping 
the  mouth  with  the  hand,  to  render  it,  if  possible,  more 
terrific.  Here  were  seen  little  boys  and  gMs,  not  six 
years  old,  all  looking  on  with  the  most  intense  interest, 
imitating  their  fathers  and  mothers,  and  participating 
in  their  brutal  joy.  Thus  early  do  they  learn,  by  pre- 
cept and  examjDle,  to  imbibe  the  spirit  of  revenge  and 
war,  which  is  fostered  in  their  bosoms,  and  in  after  life 
stimulates  them  to  go  and  perform  some  deed  of  daring 
and  blood,  which  shall  gain  for  themselves  the  like  ap- 
plause. 

"A  circumstance  which  rendered  the  scene  not  a 
little  appalling,  is,  it  was  performed  around  the  graves 
of  the  dead.  At  the  head  of  those  graves  hangs  an  old 
scalp,  some  ten  feet  above  the  ground,  which  the  winds 
have  almost  divested  of  its  ornaments  and  its  hair. 
The  grass  and  the  turf  for  several  yards  around,  are 
literally  destroyed,  and,  I  presume,  by  their  frequent 
dancing.  One  of  the  scalps  I  examined.  The  flesh 
side  had  apparently  been  smoked  and  rubbed  with  some 
material  till  it  was  pliant,  after  which  it  was  painted 


ALLEN'S  FIRST  MAP  OF  ITASCA  LAKE.  407 

with  Vermillion.  A  piece  of  wood  is  turned  in  the  form 
of  a  horse-shoe,  into  which  the  scalp  is  sewed,  the 
threads  passing  round  the  wood,  which  keeps  it  tight. 
Narrow  pieces  of  cloth  and  ribands  of  various  colours, 
attached  to  the  bow,  were  ornamented  with  beads  and 
feathers.  A  small  stick,  which  serves  for  a  handle  to 
shake, it  in  the  air  when  thej  dance,  was  attached  to 
the  top  of  the  bow  by  a  string.  While  examining  it,  a 
lock  of  hair  fell  from  it,  which  the  Indian  gave  me,  and 
which  I  still  preserve."^ 

At  two  P.  M.,  on  July  thirteenth,  they  reached  Elk 
Lake,  named  Itasca  by  Mr.  Schoolcraft.^  With  the  ex- 
ception of  traders,  no  white  men  had  ever  traced  the 
MississijDpi  so  far.  The  lake  is  about  eight  miles  in 
length,  and  was  called  Elk  by  the  Ojibways,  because 
of  its  irregularities,  resembling  the  horns  of  that  ani- 
mal. Lieutenant  Allen,  the  commander  of  the  miU- 
tary  detachment,  who  made  the  first  map  of  this  lake, 
thus  speaks : — 

"From  these  hills,  which  were  seldom  more  than 
two  or  three  hundred  feet  high,  we  came  suddenly  down 
to  the  lake,  and  passed  nearly  through  it  to  an  island 
near  its  west  end,  where  we  remained  one  or  two  hours. 
We  were  sure  that  we  had  reached  the  true  source  of 
the  great  river,  and  a  feeling  of  great  satisfaction  was 
manifested  by  all  the  party.  Mr.  Schoolcraft  hoisted  a 
flag  on  a  high  staff  on  the  island,  and  left  it  flying. 
The  lake  is  about  seven  miles  long,  and  from  one  to 
three  broad,  but  is  of  an  irregular  shaj)e,  conforming  to 

^  BoutweU.  syllable  of  the  first  and  the  final  syl- 

'  It  is  asserted  that  this  is  a  name  labia  of  the  last  word,  Itasca  is  ob- 

made  up   by  Mr.  Schoolcraft   from  tained ;    but    Mrs.    Eastman     says, 

two  Latin  words,  Veritas  caput.     It  that  it  is  the  name   of  an   Indian 

is  true,  that  by  dropping   the  first  maiden. 


408  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

the  bases  of  pine  hills  which,  for  a  great  part  of  its  cir- 
cumference, rise  abruptly  from  its  shore.  It  is  deep, 
cold,  and  very  clear,  and  seemed  to  be  well  stocked 
with  fish.  Its  shores  show  some  boulders  of  primitive 
rock,  but  no  rock  in  place.  The  island,  the  only  one 
of  the  lake,  and  which  I  have  called  Schoolcraft  Island, 
is  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  long,  fifty  yards  broad 
in  the  highest  part,  elevated  twenty  or  thirty  feet,  over- 
grown with  elm,  pine,  spruce,  and  wild  cherry.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  this  is  the  true  source  and  fountain 
of  the  longest  and  largest  branch  of  the  Mississippi." 

Soon  after  sunrise,  on  the  next  day,  the  expedition 
turned  the  bows  of  their  canoes  towards  the  region  of 
civilization.  In  a  little  while  the  canoes  were  w^hirling 
amid  splashing  rapids,  and  Allen's  capsized.  Kegs  of 
pork,  loaves  of  bread,  notes  of  travel,  compass,  and 
apparatus,  were  soon  swept  out  of  sight.  When  the 
canoe-men  are  exj)erienced,  there  is  a  pleasurable  ex- 
citement attending  the  descent  of  such  rapids. 

On  the  afternoon  of  this  day  they  passed  the  Dahko- 
tah  embankments,  which  are  holes  in  the  earth,  where 
a  war  party  lay  in  wait  for  Ojibways  descending  the 
rapids,  to  which  allusion  has  been  made  in  a  j^revious 
chapter.  At  ten  o'clock  at  night  Leech  Lake  was 
reached.  In  the  morning  they  were  welcomed  by  a 
salute  from  the  Indians.  The  chief  of  the  band  was 
Aishkebuggekozh,  or  Flat  Mouth,  whose  party  suffered 
the  dastardly  assault  at  Fort  Snelling  in  1827.  He 
occupied  a  log-cabin,  twenty  by  twenty-five  feet,  which 
had  been  presented  to  him  by  a  trader.  He  possessed 
cups,  saucers,  knives,  and  forks  of  European  manufac- 
ture. At  one  end  of  the  eatinsr-hall  were  huno;  his  flasrs, 
medals,  gun,  and  scalping  knife.     Bare-legged  and  with 


BOUTWELL'S  GRAPHIC  DESCRIPTION.  409 

bare  feet,  the  old  chief  received  his  visiters  with  dignity. 
He  was  surrounded  by  about  forty  warriors,  with  stand- 
ing feathers  around  their  head,  and  fox  tails  around 
their  heels.  The  whole  band  consisted  at  that  time  of 
over  seven  hundred  men,  women  and  children,  and  many 
were  vaccinated  by  Dr.  Houghton. 

On  the  twenty-second  of  July,  it  being  Sunday,  the 
party  remained  at  Baker's  trading-post,  about  fifteen 
miles  below  the  mouth  of  the  Crow  Wing,  and  here 
they  learned  from  a  small  newspaper,  which  here 
reached  them,  concerning  the  Black  Hawk  difficulties 
in  Wisconsin.  At  eight,  on  Monday  morning,  they 
arrived  at  Little  Falls.  Says  the  Rev.  Mr.  Boutw^ell, 
in  his  journal : — 

"  At  eight  we  reached  the  Little  Falls.  Instead  of 
making  a  short  portage  here,  as  is  usual,  the  water  bemg 
sufficiently  high  to  clear  the  canoe  from  stones,  we  only 
put  into  the  current  and  let  her  drive.  The  stream  is 
full  of  small  islands,  many  of  which  are  covered  with  a 
beautiful  growth  of  elm,  maple,  butternut,  and  w^hite 
walnut.  The  country  here  is  prairie,  extending  as  far 
as  the  eye  can  reach,  with  hei'e  and  there  a  clump 
of  oaks,  which  at  a  distance  looks  like  some  old  New 
England  orchard.  It  is  the  most  vnterestiny  and  inviting 
tract  of  country  I  have  ever  seen.  If  there  is  anything 
that  can  meet  the  icisJies,  and  fill  the  soid  of  man  with 
gratitude,  it  is  found  here.  What  would  require  the 
labour  of  years,  in  preparing  the  land  for  cultivation  in 
many  of  the  old  states,  is  here  all  prepared  to  the  hand. 
As  far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  is  one  continued  field  of 
grass  and  flowers,  waving  in  the  passing  breeze,  exhibit- 
ing the  appearance  of  a  country  which  has  been  culti- 
vated for  centuries,  but  now  deserted  of  its  inhabitants. 


410  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

The  gentle  swells,  which  are  seen  here  and  there,  give 
a  pleasing  variety.  The  soil  is  apparently  easy  of  cul- 
tivation,— a  black  earth  and  a  mixture  of  black  sand. 
Nothing  can  be  more  picturesque  or  grand,  than  the 
high  banks  at  a  distance,  rising  before  you  as  you  de- 
scend. The  islands,  in  the  stream,  are  most  of  them 
alluvial,  a  soil  of  the  richest  quality. 

"  We  have  marched  thirteen  hours  and  a  half  to-day, 
at  the  rate  of  ten  miles  per  hour,  and  are  encamped  this 
evening  in  the  dominions  of  the  Sioux,  though  we  have 
as  yet  seen  none. 

"  Embarked  at  five  next  morning,  and  marched  till 
twelve,  when  we  reached  the  Falls  of  St,  Anthony,  nine 
miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Peter's.  Our  govern- 
ment have  here  a  saw-mill  and  grist-mill  on  the  west 
bank  of  the  Mississippi,  and  also  have  a  large  farm. 
The  soldiers  are  here  cutting  the  hay.  For  beauty,  the 
country  around  exceeds  all  that  I  can  say.  These  falls 
are  an  interesting  object  to  look  at,  but  there  is  nothing 
about  them  that  fills  one  with  awe,  as  do  the  Falls  of 
Niagara.  The  stream  is  divided  in  about  its  centre  by 
a  bluff"  of  rocks  covered  with  a  few  trees.  The  j)erpen- 
dicular  fall  is  perhaps  twenty  feet  on  each  side  of  this 
bluff",  at  the  foot  of  which  there  is  a  shoot  of  some  ten 
or  fifteen  feet  more  in  a  descent. 

"  A  short  portage  was  made  around  the  falls,  when 
we  again  embarked  in  the  rapids,  and  in  about  an  hour 
reached  Fort  Snelling.  This  post  is  located  at  the  junc- 
tion of  the  St,  Peter's  with  the  Mississippi,  It  stands 
on  a  high  bluff",  rising  on  the  north,  nearly  three  hun- 
dred feet  above  the  water.  The  walls  of  the  fort,  and 
of  most  of  the  buildings,  are  of  stone.  The  tower  com- 
mands an  extensive  and  beautiful  view  of  the  adjacent 


EXPEDITION  ARRIVES  AT  FORT  SNELLING.  411 

country,  and  of  the  Mississippi  and  St.  Peter's  rivers. 
The  officers  visited  us  at  our  tents,  invited  us  to  their 
quarters,  and  treated  us  with  much  kindness  and 
attention. 

''  After  Mr.  Schoolcraft  had  stated  to  three  or  four 
of  the  principal  Sioux  chiefs  who  had  been  requested 
to  visit  him,  the  object  of  his  tour,  and  mentioned  the 
complaints  which  the  Ojibwas  brought  against  them 
for  breaking  the  treaties  of  Prairie  du  Chien  and  Fond 
du  Lac,  Little  Crow  rose  and  replied,  that  he  recollected 
those  treaties,  when  they  smoked  the  pipe,  and  all  agreed 
to  eat  and  drink  out  of  the  same  dish.  He  wished  the 
line  to  be  drawn  between  them  and  the  Ojibwas ;  the 
sooner  it  was  fixed  the  better.  He  alluded  to  the  late 
war  party  from  Leech  Lake,  which  had  killed  two  of 
his  nephews,  and  were  now  dancing  around  their  scalps ; 
but  he  did  not  complain,  nor  would  he  go  and  revenge 
their  death.  He  denied  that  the  Sioux  were  in  league 
with  the  Sacs  and  Foxes.  Black  Dog,  and  the  Man- 
who-floats-on-the-water,  also  spoke  in  much  the  same 
manner." 

After  the  expedition  left  Fort  Snelling  Mr.  School- 
craft pushed  ahead,  and  proceeded  without  the  military 
escort,  by  way  of  the  St.  Croix  to  Lake  Superior.  Near, 
the  Falls  of  St.  Croix  he  met  Joseph  R.  Brown,  Avho 
had  been  trading  at  that  point,  but  was  now  on  his  way 
to  establish  a  new  post  at  the  mouth  of  the  river. 

Lieutenant  Allen  was  sorely  displeased  with  the  sum- 
mary manner  in  which  Mr.  Schoolcraft  left  him,  and  in 
his  pu})lished  report  gives  full  expression  to  his  senti- 
ments. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1832,  the  noted  Sauk  chief. 
Black  Hawk,  raised  the  British  flag,  and  ascended  the 


412  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

Mississippi  with  hostile  intentions  against  the  frontier 
settlers.  General  Atkinson,  in  the  latter  part  of  May, 
sent  an  express  from  Dixon,  Illinois,  to  Prairie  du  Chien, 
requesting  the  Indian  agent  to  procure  the  services  of 
the  Dahkotahs  as  allies  of  the  United  States  troops. 

On  the  thirtieth  of  May,  John  Marsh,  who  had  accom- 
panied the  troops  to  Fort  Snelling  in  1819,  and  Burnett, 
sub-agent  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  left  that  place  in  a  canoe 
paddled  by  eight  men,  to  secure  the  aid  of  the  Dahko- 
tahs. On  their  way  they  stopped  at  the  Winnebago 
village  at  La  Crosse,  to  inquire  if  any  were  willing  to 
join  General  Atkinson's  army  on  Rock  River ;  Winnie- 
shiek  opposed  the  measure,  but  the  young  men  agreed 
to  accompany  them  on  their  return. 

On  the  first  of  June,  Marsh  and  Burnett  were  at 
Wapashaw  Prairie,  and  found  the  Dahkotahs  fully  pre- 
pared to  go  to  war  against  their  old  enemies.  In  six 
days  the  commissioners  returned  to  the  Prairie  with 
eighty  Dahkotah  and  twenty  Winnebago  warriors. 

Marsh,  the  Dahkotah  interpreter,  and  W.  S.  Hamilton, 
marched  with  tlie  Dahkotahs  toward  the  Pecatonica, 
and,  arriving  there  the  day  of  the  skirmish  between 
General  Dodge  and  the  Sauks  and  Foxes,  they  gloated 
over  the  corpses  of  their  enemies,  and,  dancing  the  scalp 
dance,  cut  them  to  pieces. 

On  the  twenty-first  of  July  General  Dodge  met  Black 
Hawk  near  an  old  Sauk  village  on  the  Wisconsin  and 
routed  him,  he  retreating  north  of  the  Wisconsin,  in 
direction  of  the  Mississippi.  As  soon  as  the  intelligence 
of  Black  Hawk's  retreat  reached  Prairie  du  Chien,  Cap- 
tain Loomis,  now  colonel  of  the  5th  regiment  United 
States  Infantry,  hired  the  steamboat  Enterprise,  to  pro- 
ceed to  La  Crosse,  and  bring  down  any  Winnebagoes 


BATTLE  OF  BAD  AXE.  413 

that  might  he  there,  lest  thej  should  assist  Black  Hawk 
in  crossing  the  river.  On  the  thirtieth  of  July  the  Win- 
nebagoes  and  their  canoes  were  at  Fort  Crawford. 

On  the  first  of  August,  Loomis,  one  of  the  officers  at 
Fort  Crawford,  hired  a  faster  steamboat,  called  the 
"  Warrior,"  to  ascend  the  Mississippi.  When  they 
came  to  the  mouth  of  the  Bad  Axe  they  discovered  Black 
Hawk's  party,  who  had  just  arrived  with  wearied  limbs, 
and  diseased  and  famished  bodies.  As  the  steamer 
approached  he  told  his  braves  not  to  shoot,  and  taking 
a  piece  of  white  cotton  placed  it  on  a  pole,  and  signified 
a  desire  to  come  on  board ;  but  about  this  time  there 
was  a  discharge  from  the  six-pounder  on  board  of  the 
boat,  which  was  returned  by  Black  Hawk's  braves. 

The  steamboat  returned  that  evening  to  Prairie  du 
Chien,  but  arrived  again  the  next  day,  and  found  that 
a  battle  had  commenced  between  the  Indians  and  the 
regular  troops,  who  had  come  up  to  them  by  land  a  few 
hours  before.  Some  of  the  Indians  had  fled  to  the 
islands  of  the  Mississippi  near  the  Bad  Axe,  and  they 
were  fired  at  by  those  on  the  steamboat. 

Batteaux  were  also  sent  to  the  main  land  to  receive 
and  transport  the  troops  of  Colonel  Z.  Taylor  and  Major 
Bliss  to  one  of  the  islands,  where  a  severe  fight  took 
place,  during  which  every  Indian  was  killed  but  one, 
who  made  his  escape  by  swimming.' 

During  the  fight.  General  Atkinson  came  on  board  of 
the  steamer  and  remained  until  the  close  of  the  battle. 
After  three  hours  the  battle  ended,  which  was  a  slaugh- 
ter rather  than  a  victory. 

A  writer,  in  the  nearest  newspaper,'  four  days  after, 

'  Narrative  of  Captain  Este,  Black  Hawk,  and  others. 
'  Galena  Gazette. 


414  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

says,  "  When  the  Indians  were  driven  to  the  bank  of 
the  Mississippi,  some  hundreds  of  men,  women,  and 
children,  plunged  into  the  river,  and  hoped  by  diving 
to  escape  the  bullets  of  our  guns.  Very  few,  however, 
escaped  our  sharp-shooters." 

Among  those  killed  on  the  Wisconsin  shore  was  a 
mother.  Her  infant  was  feeding  on  her  breast,  and  the 
bullet  had  passed  through  and  broken  the  arm  of  the 
child,  and  penetrated  to  the  heart  of  the  parent.  When 
discovered,  the  child  was  alive ;  it  survived  the  wound, 
which  was  attended  to  by  one  of  the  surgeons  of  the 
volunteer  troops. 

Those  Indians  that  escaped  the  fire  from  the  main 
shore  and  steamboat,  were  met  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Mississippi  by  the  scalping  knife  of  the  Dahkotahs. 
Wapashaw,  with  a  party  of  warriors,  had  arrived  during 
the  fight,  and  they  were  ordered  to  pursue  those  who 
should  escape.  Black  Hawk,  perceiving  that  all  was  lost, 
in  forlorn  condition  fled  to  the  Winnebago  village  at  La 
Crosse,  where  the  squaws  gave  him  a  dress  of  white  deer 
skin.  He  was  accompanied  by  the  Winnebago  chief, 
One-eyed  Dekorrah,  to  Prairie  du  Chien,  and  deUvered 
up  to  the  Americans  on  the  morning  of  August  twenty- 
seventh. 

Black  Hawk,  on  that  occasion,  is  said  to  have  made 
the  following  speech  : — 

"  My  warriors  fell  around  me ;  it  began  to  look  dis- 
mal. I  saw  my  evil  day  at  hand.  The  sun  rose  clear 
on  us  in  the  morning,  and  at  night  it  sunk  in  a  dark 
cloud,  and  looked  like  a  ball  of  fire.  This  was  the  last 
sun  that  shone  on  Black  Hawk.  He  is  now  a  prisoner 
to  the  white  man.  But  he  can  stand  the  torture.  He 
is  not  afraid  of  death.    He  is  no  coward.    Black  Hawk 


BLACK  HAWK'S  SPEECH.  415 

is  an  Indian ;  he  has  done  nothing  of  which  an  Indian 
need  to  be  ashamed.  He  has  fought  the  battles  of  his 
country  against  the  white  men,  who  came  year  after 
year  to  cheat  them  and  take  away  their  lands.  You 
know  the  cause  of  our  making  war — it  is  kno^vn  to  all 
white  men — they  ought  to  be  ashamed  of  it.  The  white 
men  despise  the  Indians,  and  drive  them  from  their 
homes.  But  the  Indians  are  not  deceitful.  The  white 
men  sj)eak  bad  of  the  Indian,  and  look  at  him  spite- 
fully. But  the  Indian  does  not  tell  lies.  Indians  do 
not  steal.  Black  Hawk  is  satisfied.  He  will  go  to  the 
world  of  spirits  contented.  He  has  done  his  duty — his 
Father  will  meet  him  and  reward  him.  The  white  men 
do  not  scalp  the  head,  but  they  do  worse,  they  poison 
the  heart — it  is  not  pure  with  them.  Farewell  to  my 
nation  !     Farewell  to  Black  Hawk !" 

During  the  year  of  the  Black  Hawk  war,  the  first 
regular  land  mail  was  carried  between  Fort  Crawford 
and  Fort  Snelling.  The  mail  carrier  was  a  soldier  of 
the  United  States'  army,  and  his  journeys  were  on  foot. 
Leaving  Prairie  du  Chien,  he  crossed  to  the  Iowa  side, 
and  then  continued  on  the  western  side  till  he  came  to 
Fort  Snelling.  He  occupied  fourteen  days  in  going  and 
returning,  and  carried  the  mail  for  a  period  of  twelve 
months.^  At  that  time  there  were  no  white  fiimilies  in 
the  country.  The  entire  population,  beside  the  soldiers 
of  the  fort,  were  Indian  traders.^ 

^  Smith's  History   of   Wisconsin,        Louis   Proven^alle,  Traverse  des 

Tol.  i.  p.  289.  Sioux. 

'    Licensed     Indian    Traders    in        J.  B.  Faribault,  Little  Rapids  of 

Minnesota,  1833-1834:—  Minnesota. 

Alexis  Bailly,  Mendota.  Hazen  Moores,  Lac  Traverse. 

J.    R.    Brovrn,    Oliver's     Grove,        Joseph  Renville,  Lac  qui  Parle. 
Mouth  of  the  St.  Croix.  B.  F,  Baker,  Fort  Snelling. 


41G 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


In  the  year  1805,  Uj)per  Louisiana  was  organized  as 
Missouri  Territory ;  and,  after  the  state  of  that  name, 
was,  in  1820,  admitted  into  the  Union,  the  territory 
beyond  its  northern  boundary,  comprising  Iowa,  and  all 
of  Minnesota  west  of  the  Mississippi  river,  was  without 
any  organized  government.  In  1834,  the  inhabitants 
petitioned  Congress  to  give  them  a  territorial  organi- 
zation, or  attach  them  to  Michigan.  For  the  present  it 
was  thought  better  to  pursue  the  latter  course. 

In  1836,  the  territory  of  Wisconsin  was  organized, 
comprising  all  of  Michigan  west  of  the  lake  of  that 
name;  and,  in  1838,  Iowa  was  formed,  embracing  all 
of  the  old  Missouri  Territory  beyond  the  north  line  of 
the  state  of  that  name. 

During  the  year  1835,  an  artist  of  some  notoriety, 
George  Catlin,  visited  Minnesota,  and  made  many 
sketches  which  were  truthful,  and  subsequently  pub- 
lished man}'  statements  which  were  unreliable. 

Featherstonhaugh,  in  company  with  Professor  Mather, 
under  the  direction  of  the  United  States  government, 
made  a  slight  geological  survey  of  the  valley  of  the 
Minnesota. 

After  Featherstonhaugh  returned  to  England,  his 
native  land,  he  published  a  work  entitled  "  Canoe  voy- 
age up  the  Minnaysotar,"  which  is  only  remarkable  for  its 


J.  Renville,  Jr.,  Little  Rock. 
P.  Prescott,  Traverse  des  Sioux. 
James  Welles,  Little  Rapids. 
Joseph  R.  Brown,  Mouth  of  Chip- 
peway. 

W.  A.  Aitkin,  Fond  du   Lac. 
Alfred  Aitkin,  Sandy  Lake. 
John  Aitkin,  Prairie  Percee. 
Ambrose  Devenport,  Gull  Lake. 


Wm.  Devenport,  Leech  Lake. 
A.  Morrison,  Mille  Lac, 
George  Bonga,  Lac  Platte. 
J.  H.  Fairbanks,  Red  Cedar  Lake. 
Louis  Dufault,  Red  Lake. 
Wm.  Stitt,  Lower  Red  Cedar  Lake. 
L.  M.  Warren,  La  Pointe,  Wis. 
Chas.  Wolfborup,  Yellow  Lake. 


NICOLLET  ARRIVES  IN  MINNESOTA. 


417 


vulgarity,  and  its  attack  upon  the  character  of  gentle- 
men who  did  not  show  him  the  attention  which  he 
thought  he  should  have  received. 

The  next  year,  another  foreign  gentleman  visited  the 
country,  who  was  the  antipodes  to  him  whom  we  have 
just  noticed.  His  name  will  always  be  honoured  in 
the  university  and  colleges  of  the  state ;  and  his  career 
will  incite  others  to  the  culture  of  those  exact  sciences, 
which  are  so  useful  in  their  results  to  the  practical  man. 

Jean  N.  Nicollet,^  Avith  letters  of  introduction,  having 
arrived  in  Minnesota,  on  the  twenty-sixth  of  July,  1836, 


^  Jean  N.  Nicollet  was  born  in  the 
year  1790,  at  Cluses,  a  small  town, 
capital  of  Fansignj  in  Savoie.  Ilis 
parents  were  poor,  and  he  was  con- 
sequently reduced  to  the  necessity 
of  gaining  a  subsistence  by  playing 
upon  the  flute  and  violin,  before  he 
had  reached  the  tender  age  of  ten 
years.  He  was  then  apprenticed  to 
a  watchmaker,  and  remained  with 
him  until  he  was  eighteen  years  old, 
when  he  removed  to  Chambry,  the 
capital  of  Savoie,  where  he  followed 
his  occupation,  at  the  same  time 
prosecuting  his  studies  in  mathe- 
matics, for  his  proficiency  in  which 
science  he  received  a  prize.  From 
Chambry  he  returned  to  Cluses,  and 
there  gave  lessons  in  mathematics, 
lie  himself  receiving  instruction  in 
Latin  and  other  languages.  He 
continued  this  course  of  life  for  about 
two  years,  when  he  went  to  Paris 
and  was  admitted  in  the  first  class 
of  L'Ecole  Normale,  and  soon  after- 
wards he  was  placed  in  charge  of 
the  mathematical  course  in  the  col- 
lege of  "  Louis  Le  Grand." 

It  was  in  1818  that  Nicollet  pub- 
27 


lished  his  celebrated  letter  to  M. 
Outrequin  Banquier,  "on  assurances 
having  for  their  basis,  the  probable 
duration  of  human  life." 

From  1819  and  1820,  may  be  dated 
the  commencement  of  his  astronomi- 
cal labours. 

On  the  twenty-first  of  January, 
1821,  between  six  and  seven  in  the 
evening,  he  discovered  a  comet  in 
the  constellation  of  Pegasus  (seen 
on  the  same  day  and  at  the  same 
hour  by  Pons  at  Marseilles),  and 
from  his  own  observations,  and  those 
of  the  astronomers  and  the  observa- 
tory, he  completed  its  parabolic 
elements. 

Previous  to  1825,  M.  Nicollet  re- 
ceived the  decoration  of  the  Legion 
of  Honour,  and  had  also  been  at- 
tached as  Professor,  to  the  Royal 
College  of  "  Louis  Le  Grand." 

Having  been  unfortunate  in  spec- 
ulations which  involved  others  in 
pecuniary  loss,  he  came  to  the  United 
States  in  1832 ;  poor,  but  honest. — 
See  sketch  in  Annals  Minnesota  Hist. 
Soc,  No.  iv.  1853. 


418  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

left  Fort  Snelling  with  a  French  trader,  named  Fron- 
chet,  to  explore  the  sources  of  the  Mississippi.  While  at 
the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  the  Dahkotahs  pilfered  some  of 
his  provisions,  but  writing  back  to  the  fort  for  another 
supply,  he  ascended  the  Mississippi,  telescope  in  hand, 
and  with  a  trustful,  child-like  spirit,  hoped  with  Sir 
Isaac  Newton,  to  gather  a  few  pebbles  from  the  great 
ocean  of  truth.  After  reaching  Crow  Wing  river,  he 
entered  its  mouth,  and  by  way  of  Gull  river  and  lake, 
he  reached  Leech  Lake,  the  abode  of  the  Pillagers. 
When  the  savages  found  that  he  was  nothing  but  a 
poor  scholar,  with  neither  medals,  nor  beef,  nor  flags  to 
present,  and  constantly  peeping  through  a  tube  into 
the  heavens,  they  became  very  unruly. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Boutwell,  whose  mission  house  was  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  lake,  hearing  the  shouts  and 
drumming  of  the  Lidians,  came  over  as  soon  as  the 
wind  which  had  been  blowing  for  several  days,  would 
allow  the  passage  of  his  canoe.  His  arrival  was  very 
grateful  to  Nicollet,  who  says:  "On  the  fourth  day, 
however,  he  arrived,  and  although  totally  unknown  to 
each  other  previously,  a  sympathy  of  feeling  arose, 
growing  out  of  the  precarious  circumstances  under 
w^hich  we  were  both  placed,  and  to  which  he  had  been 
much  longer  exposed  than  myself.  This  feeling,  from 
the  kind  attentions  he  paid  me,  soon  ripened  into  affec- 
tionate gratitude." 

Leaving  Leech  Lake  with  an  Indian,  Fronchet  and 
Francis  Brunet,  a  Canadian  trader  of  that  post,  "  a  man 
six  feet  three  inches  in  height,  a  giant  of  great  strength, 
and  at  the  same  time  full  of  the  milk  of  human  kind- 
ness," he  proceeded  toward  Itasca  Lake.  With  the  sex- 
tant on  his  back,  thrown  over  like  a  knapsack,  a  ba- 


THE  ASTRONOMER  IN  THE  WILDERNESS.  419 

rometer  and  cloak  on  his  left  shoulder,  a  portfolio  under 
his  arm,  and  a  basket  in  hand  holding  thermometer, 
chronometer,  and  compass,  he  followed  his  guides  over 
the  necessary  portages.  After  the  usual  trials  of  an 
inexperienced  tra^'eller,  he  pitched  his  tent  on  School- 
craft's Island,  in  Lake  Itasca,  and  proceeded  to  use  his 
telescope  and  instruments. 

Continuing  his  explorations  beyond  those  of  Lieut. 
Allen  and  Schoolcraft,  he  entered  on  the  twenty-ninth 
of  August,  a  tributary  of  the  west  bay  of  the  lake, 
two  or  three  feet  in  depth,  and  from  fifteen  to  twenty 
feet  in  width.  While  the  previous  explorers  had  passed 
but  one  or  txco  hours  at  Itasca  Lake,  he  stayed  three 
days  with  complete  scientific  apparatus,  and  sought  the 
sources  of  the  rivulets  that  feed  the  lake.  With  great 
appropriateness  has  his  claim  been  recognised  by  the 
people  of  Minnesota,  as  the  individual  Avho  completed 
the  exploration  of  the  Mississippi,  by  giving  his  name 
to  a  county. 

Returning  to  Fort  Snelling  in  the  beginning  of  Octo- 
ber, he  occupied  a  room  at  the  stone  agency  house,  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  beyond  the  gate,  where  he  passed  the 
time  in  studying  the  Dahkotah.  The  latter  portion  of 
the  winter  Nicollet  was  a  guest  of  Mr.  Sibley,  at  Men- 
dota.     That  gentleman  says  : — 

"  A  portion  of  the  winter  following  was  spent  by  him 
at  my  house,  and  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  state  that  I 
found  in  him  a  most  instructive  companion.  His  devo- 
tion to  his  studies  was  intense  and  unremitting,  and  I 
frequently  expostulated  with  him  upon  his  imprudence 
in  thus  over-tasking  the  strength  of  his  delicate  frame, 
but  with  little  effect.  When  the  weather  was  auspi- 
cious, telescope  in  hand,  he  would  spend  hours  of  the 


420  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

cold  winter  nights  of  our  high  latitude  in  astral  observor- 
tions.  He  continued  his  labours  until  the  opening  of 
spring  called  him  to  encounter  the  privations  and  suf- 
ferings necessarily  attendant  uj^on  a  long  sojourn  in  the 
wilderness.  Such  w^as  the  enthusiasm  of  his  nature, 
that  he  submitted  to  all  physical  inconveniences  with- 
out murmuring,  and  as  of  no  moment  when  compared 
with  the  magnitude  of  the  enterprise  in  w^hich  he  was 
engaged." 

Going  to  Washington,  after  his  tour  of  1836-37,  he 
was  honoured  with  a  commission  from  the  United  States 
government,  and  John  C.  Fremont  w^as  detailed  as  his 
assistant.  Ascending  the  Missouri  river  in  a  steamboat, 
to  Fort  Pierre,  he  travelled  through  the  interior  of  Min- 
nesota Territory,  visiting  the  Red  Pipe  Stone  Quarry, 
which  he  accurately  describes,  Minne  Wakan,  or  Devil's 
Lake,  and  other  important  localities. 

The  map  which  he  constructed,  and  the  astronomical 
observations  which  he  made,  were  invaluable  to  the 
country.^ 

^  lion.  H.  II.  Sibley,  in  his  notice  gentleman,  alike  entitled  him  to  such 

of  Nicollet,  says : —  a  distinction.     But  his  enemies  were 

"  His  health  was  so  seriously  numerous  and  influential,  and  when 
affected  after  his  return  to  Washing-  his  name  was  presented  in  accord- 
ton  in  1839,  that  from  that  time  for-  ance  with  a  previous  nomination,  to 
ward  he  was  incapacitated  from  de-  fill  a  vacancy,  he  was  black-balled 
votinghimself  to  the  accomplishment  and  rejected.  This  last  blow  was 
of  his  work  as  exclusively  as  he  had  mortal.  True,  he  strove  against  the 
previously  done.  Still  he  laboured,  incurable  melancholy  which  had 
but  it  was  with  depressed  spirits  and  fastened  itself  upon  him,  but  his 
blighted  hopes.  He  had  long  as-  struggles  waxed  more  and  more 
pired  to  a  membership  in  the  Aca-  faint,  until  death  put  a  period  to  his 
demy  of  Sciences  of  Paris.  His  long  sufferings  on  the  eighteenth  Sep- 
continued     devotion    and    valuable  tember,  1844. 

contributions  to  the  cause  of  science,  "  Even  when  he  was  aware  that 

and    his  correct    deportment   as   a  his  dissolution  was  near  at  hand,  his 


NICOLLET'S  DEATH.— AITKIN  KILLED. 


421 


The  Leech  Lake  Ojibways  this  year  killed  the  trader^ 
in  charge  of  the  American  Fur  Company's  post,  at  that 
point,  and  many  threatened  to  drive  away  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Boutwell,  and  manifested  bitter  hostility. 


thoughts  reverted  back  to  the  days 
when  he  roamed  along  the  valley  of 
the  Minnesota  river.  It  was  my 
fortune  to  meet  him  for  the  last  time 
in  the  j^ear  1842  in  "Washington  City. 
A  short  time  before  his  death  I  re- 
ceived a  kind  but  mournful  letter 
from  him,  in  which  he  adverted  to 
the  fact  that  his  days  were  numbered, 
but  at  the  same  time  he  expressed  a 
hope  that  he  would  have  strength 
sufficient  to  enable  him  to  make  his 
way  to  our  country,  that  he  might 
yield  up  his  breath  and  be  interred 
on  the  banks  of  his  beloved  stream. 
"  It  would  have  been  gratifying  to 
his  friends  to  know  that  the  soil  of 
the  region  which  had  employed  so 
much  of  his  time  and  scientific  I'e- 
searcb,  had  received  his  mortal  re- 


mains into  his  bosom,  but  they  were 
denied  this  melancholy  satisfaction. 
lie  sleeps  beneath  the  sod  far  away, 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  capital  of  the 
nation,  but  his  name  will  continue 
to  be  cherished  in  Minnesota  as  one 
of  its  early  explorers,  and  one  of  its 
best  friends.  The  astronomer,  the 
geologist,  and  the  christian  gentle- 
man, .Jean  N.  Nicollet,  will  long  be 
remembered  in  connection  with  the 
history  of  the  North-west. 

"  Time  shall  quench  full  many 
A  people's  records,  and  a  hero's  acts. 
Sweep  empire  after  empire  into  nothing; 
But  even  then  .shall  spare  this  deed  of  thine. 
And  hold  it  up,  a  problem  few  dare  imitate. 
And  none  despise." 

'  Alfred  Aitkin. 


422  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


CHAPTER    XX. 

The  history  of  missions  among  the  roving  tribes  of 
Minnesota  and  the  regions  adjacent,  must  necessarily  be 
a  dark  and  saddening  page.  They  are  all  bands  with- 
out law. 

The  frontispiece  of  the  first  volume  of  the  voyages 
of  Baron  La  Hontan  to  the  Lakes  of  the  West,  pub- 
lished more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  is  an 
engraving  of  an  Indian,  attired  for  war,  with  a  bow  in 
one  hand  and  arrow  in  the  other,  a  statute  book  under 
one  foot,  and  a  crown  and  sceptre  beneath  the  other. 
Over  his  head  is  the  appropriate  motto  "  Et  leges,  et 
sceptra  terit :"  On  laws  and  sceptres  he  tramples. 

The  savages  of  the  north-west,  as  has  been  shown, 
have  nothing  that  corresponds  to  a  civilized  government. 
Their  chiefs  hold  their  influence  by  a  trimming  and 
somersaulting  which  would  put  the  most  adroit  politi- 
cian to  the  blush.  Society  takes  no  cognisance  of 
offences,  and  each  man  revenges  his  real  or  imaginary 
wrongs.  If  one  is  killed,  the  relative  in  return  goes 
and  kills  the  person  who  committed  the  act.  They  also 
hold  their  propertj^  in  common.  If,  on  a  hunting  expe- 
dition, a  man  shoots  a  deer,  he  does  not  claim  it  as  pri- 
vate property,  but  it  is  shared  -with  all  present.     If  an 


JESUITS  PERMITTED  HEATHEN  SACRIFICES.  423 

industrious  person  should  settle  down  and  cultivate  a 
field  of  corn  and  potatoes,  custom  requires  that  he 
should  share  it  with  the  idler  and  the  passer-hy. 

The  aversion  to  labour  is  such  that  the  men  ordi- 
narily feel  it  an  insult  to  be  urged  to  work.  Toil  is 
only  becoming  to  women.  In  addition  to  these  preju- 
dices, when  not  hunting  for  wild  beasts,  they,  with  the 
ferocity  of  wild  beasts,  hunt  for  the  scalps  of  their  wild 
neighbours.  There  is  scarcely  a  large  plain  in  Minne- 
sota that  has  not  been  an  Aceldama. 

The  youth  from  his  earliest  childhood  is  trained  to 
delight  in  war.  Bancroft,  catching  the  enthusiasm  of 
the  narratives  of  the  early  Jesuits,  depicts,  in  language 
which  glows,  their  missions  to  the  North-west ;  yet  it  is 
erroneous  to  suppose  that  they  exercised  any  permanent 
influence  on  the  Aborigines. 

Fond  of  novelty  and  attention,  the  untutored  children 
of  the  forest  for  a  little  while  were  interested  in  the 
pictures  and  vestments  and  tales  of  the  "  black  gown," 
but  they  at  length  grew  weary.  Marquette,  while  at 
La  Pointe  on  Lake  Superior,  made  a  fatal  mistake  as  a 
minister  of  Christianity.  Li  his  narrative  he  says  that 
he  allowed  the  Ojibways  to  retain  such  sacrifices  to  ima- 
ginary spirits  as  he  thought  were  harmless,  as  if  it  was 
possible  to  serve  God  and  Manitou.  After  he  was 
driven  from  the  shores  of  Lake  Superior,  no  further 
attempt  was  made  to  elevate  the  Aborigines  of  that 
region,  until  the  arrival  of  Protestant  missionaries  more 
than  a  century  subsequent. 

The  devout  Romanist,  Shea,  in  his  interesting  history 
of  Catholic  missions,  speaking  of  the  Dahkotahs  remarks 
that,  "  Father  Menard  had  projected  a  Sioux  mission ; 
Marquette,  AUouez,  Druilletes,  all  entertained  hopes  of 


424  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

realizing  it,  and  had  some  intercourse  with  that  nation, 
but  none  of  them  ever  succeeded  in  establishing  a  mis- 
sion." After  the  American  Fur  Company  was  formed, 
the  island  of  Mackinaw  became  the  residence  of  the 
principal  agent  for  the  North-west. 

In  the  month  of  June  of  the  year  1820,  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Morse,  father  of  the  inventor  of  the  Morseograph,^ 
visited  the  spot,  and  preached  the  first  Protestant  ser- 
mon ever  delivered  in  this  portion  of  the  North-west. 
He  became  quite  interested  in  the  condition  of  traders 
and  natives;  and  in  consequence  of  his  statements,  a 
Presbyterian  Missionary  Society  in  the  state  of  New 
York,  sent  a  graduate  of  Union  College,  the  Rev.  W. 
M.  Ferry,  in  1822,  to  explore  the  field.  In  October, 
1823,  Avith  his  wife,  he  commenced  a  school,  w^hich, 
before  the  close  of  the  year,  contained  twelve  Indian 
children. 

Mackinaw  being  easy  of  access  to  the  Indians  of  the 
Upper  Lakes,  and  the  Upper  Mississippi,  the  American 
Board  of  Commissioners  of  Foreign  Missions,  who  had 
assumed  the  expense,  determined  to  make  it  a  central 
station,  at  which  there  should  be  a  large  boarding-school, 
composed  of  children  collected  from  all  the  North-west- 
ern tribes,  who  were  expected  to  remain  long  enough  to 
acquire  a  common  school  education,  and  a  knowledge  of 
manual  labour.  Mechanics'  shops  and  gardens  were 
provided  for  the  lads,  and  the  girls  were  trained  for 
household  duties.  The  school,  for  many  years,  succeeded 
admirably;  and  gained  the  confidence  of  traders  and 
chiefs.  At  times  there  were  nearly  two  hundred  pupils 
present,  representatives  of  the  Ottawas,  Ojibways,  Dah- 

^  This  word  is  a  novelty  found  at  the  head  of  the  telegraphic  reports 
of  the  Philadelphia  Public  Ledger. 


HAPPY  INFLUENCE  OF  MACKINAW  SCHOOL.  425 

kotahSjWinnebagoes,  Pottowattamies,  Knistenoes,  Sauks, 
Foxes,  and  Meiiomoiiees.  There  are  those  now  in 
Minnesota,  surrounded  by  all  the  comforts  of  civiliza- 
tion, who  are  indebted  to  this  school  for  their  entire 
education.  After  a  series  of  years,  the  plan  was  modi- 
fied, the  school  Umited  to  fifty,  and  smaller  stations 
commenced  in  the  region  between  Lake  Superior  and 
the  Mississippi. 

During  the  summer  of  1830,  Mr.  Warren,  the  father 
of  the  late  bois  brule  William  Warren,  came  to  Macki- 
naw, with  an  extra  boat,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  a 
missionary  to  his  post  at  La  Pointe.  As  there  were  no 
ordained  ministers  that  could  be  spared,  the  teacher  of 
the  boys'  school,  Mr.  Frederic  Ayer,  now  of  Belle  Prai- 
rie, with  one  of  the  scholars  as  an  interpreter,  returned 
with  the  trader  to  La  Pointe,  for  the  purpose  of  explor- 
ing the  field. 

After  surveying  the  country,  Mr.  Ayer  returned  to 
Mackinaw ;  but  in  August  of  the  next  year,  in  com- 
pany with  a  graduate  of  Dartmouth  College,  the  Rev. 
Sherman  Hall  and  wife,  left  with  the  intention  of  esta]> 
lishing  a  permanent  mission  among  the  Ojibways.  The 
brigade  with  which  they  travelled  consisted  of  five 
boats  and  about  seventy  persons.  The  following  ex- 
tracts from  the  journaP  of  the  first  Protestant  minister 
among  the  Ojibways  of  the  far  west,  may  be  perused 
with  interest : — 

"August  fifth,  1831.  The  manner  of  travelling  on 
the  upper  waters  of  the  great  lakes,  is  with  open  canoes 
and  batteaux.  The  former  are  made  in  the  Indian 
style,  the  materials  of  which  are  the  bark  of  the  white 
birch,  and  tlie  wood  of  the  white  cedar.     The  cedar 

*  Rev.  Sherman  Hall. 


426  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

forms  the  ribbing,  and  the  bark  the  part  which  comes 
in  contact  with  the  water.  These  are  made  of  various 
sizes,  from  ten  to  thirty  feet  in  length.  The  largest 
are  sufficiently  strong  to  carry  from  two  to  three  tons 
of  lading.  They  are  propelled  with  the  paddle ;  and 
when  well  built  and  well  manned,  without  lading,  will 
go  from  eighty  to  one  hundred  miles  in  a  day,  in  calm 
weather. 

''  Batteaux  are  light-made  boats,  about  forty  feet  in 
length,  and  ten  or  twelve  feet  wide  at  the  centre,  capa- 
ble of  carrying  about  five  tons  burden  each,  and  are 
rowed  by  six  or  seven  men.  They  have  no  deck. 
Upon  articles  of  lading,  with  which  the  boat  is  filled, 
is  the  place  for  the  passengers,  who  have  no  other  seats 
than  they  can  form  for  themselves,  out  of  their  travel- 
ling trunks,  boxes,  beds,  etc.  On  these  they  place 
themselves  in  any  position  which  necessity  may  require, 
or  convenience  suggest,  with  very  little  regard  to  grace- 
fulness of  position.  Such  is  the  vehicle  which  is  to 
convey  us  to  the  place  of  our  destination.  In  the  small 
compass  of  this  Ijoat  we  have  to  find  room  for  eleven 
persons,  including  our  family  and  our  men,  one  of  whom 
is  an  Indian,  and  four  are  Frenchmen. 

"  A  person  travelling  in  this  region,  is  obliged  to  sub- 
mit to  many  inconveniences.  Here  the  traveller  must 
take  his  bed,  his  house,  his  provisions,  and  his  utensils 
to  cook  them  with,  along  with  him,  or  consent  to  sleejD 
in  the  open  air  on  the  ground,  and  to  subsist  on  what 
the  woods  and  the  waters  may  chance  to  afford.  In 
short,  if  he  would  have  anything  to  make  himself  com- 
fortable, he  must  provide  himself  with  it  before  he 
leaves  home.  There  are  no  New  England  taverns  here, 
at  which  the  traveller  can  rest  when  he  is  weary,  and 


CAMPING  FOR  THE  NIGHT.  427 

find  supplies  for  all  his  wants.  Journeys  are  frequent. 
In  this  country,  people  think  those  near  neighbours 
who  live  two  hundred  or  three  hundred  miles  distant. 
A  journey  of  this  length,  even  in  the  dead  of  winter, 
is  no  more  accounted  of  here,  than  a  ride  from  one  city 
to  another  on  the  sea-coast  of  the  United  States,  though 
he  who  performs  it  must  take  his  provision  and  his 
snow  shoes,  and  march  without  a  track  through  the 
unbroken  wilderness. 

"At  night  our  tent  is  pitched  at  some  convenient 
place  on  the  shore.  After  the  tent  is  raised,  a  painted 
cloth  is  spread  within  it  on  the  ground.  This  forms  a 
kind  of  flooring.  On  this  a  carpet  of  Indian  mats, 
made  of  a  kind  of  coarse  grass  or  rush,  which  answers 
the  triple  purpose  of  a  carpet,  a  table,  and  a  bedstead. 
The  bed  is  composed  of  several  thicknesses  of  blankets, 
coverlets,  or  anything  else  one  may  choose  to  carry  for 
this  purpose,  with  a  sufficient  quantity  of  other  clothes 
for  covering.  Each  family  of  travellers  has  a  willow 
basket,  with  a  lock  and  key,  sufficiently  capacious  to 
hold  from  one  to  two  bushels,  of  close  texture,  which  is 
covered  with  a  swinging  lid.  This  basket  answers  the 
purpose  of  a  pantry.  This  is  divided  into  various  de- 
partments in  the  inside,  for  meat,  tea,  bread,  coffije,  and 
dishes.  The  cooking  is  done  without,  in  the  open  air. 
With  such  accommodations  a  journey  of  several  hun- 
dred miles  may  be  performed  with  tolerable  comfort, 
though  at  the  expense  of  some  inconveniences. 

"  August  thirtieth.  After  sailing  thirty  leagues  in  a 
day  and  a  half,  we  arrived  at  La  Pointe,  the  place  of 
our  destination,  about  noon  to-day,  all  heartily  glad  to 
find  a  resting  place,  and  a  shelter  from  the  storm  and 
cold.     We  were  agreeably  disappointed  on  finding  the 


428  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

place  so  much  more  pleasant  than  we  had  anticipated. 
As  we  approached  it,  it  appeared  like  a  small  village. 
There  are  several  houses,  stores,  bams,  and  out-build- 
ings about  the  establishment,  and  forty  or  fifty  acres  of 
land  under  cultivation. 

"  September  first.  This  evening  we  cooked  our  first 
meal,  and  united  together  around  the  family  altar  in 
our  new  abode.  AYe  returned  thanks  to  God  for  his 
goodness  in  preserving  us  and  bringing  us  to  this  place, 
as  we  had  prayed,  and  besought  his  blessing  on  our 
future  labours." 

Mr.  Hall  immediately  established  a  school  for  child- 
ren, and  placed  it  in  charge  of  Mr.  Ayer. 

The  next  year,  at  the  urgent  solicitation  of  the  trader, 
Mr.  Aitkin,  Mr.  Ayer  went  to  Sandy  Lake  and  opened  a 
school  for  the  children  of  voyageurs  and  Indians. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Boutwell,  a  graduate  of  Dartmouth ;  in 
the  summer  of  1832,  after  his  tour  with  H,  E.  School- 
craft, became  a  colleague  of  Mr.  Hall  at  La  Pointe,  and 
took  charge  of  the  school. 

Li  the  month  of  September,  1832,  the  Eev.  Sherman 
Hall  made  an  exploring  tour  to  Lac  du  Flambeau,  in 
North-western  Wisconsin,  and  reached  the  trading-post 
of  Charles  H.  Oakes,  at  that  place,  on  the  twentieth  of 
the  month.     His  journal  is  instructive  : — 

"  September  eleventh,  1832.  I  left  La  Pointe  for  Lac 
du  Flambeau,  accompanied  by  one  man  to  carry  my 
provisions  and  baggage.  Our  journey  was  partly  by 
water  and  partly  by  land,  and  much  of  the  way  through 
dense  forests  of  tall  and  heavy  timber.  Our  road  was 
a  small  foot-path,  which  has  been  formed  by  those  who 
make  this  wilderness  their  highway  to  the  interior.  The 
ground  in  this  great  forest  is  not  as  level  as  much  of  the 


REV.  S.  HALL  VISITS  OAKES'  TRADING  HOUSE.  429 

western  country.  We  crossed  no  high  hills,  hut  the 
surface  of  the  country  "was  continually  undulating.  The 
soil  appeared  to  be  of  excellent  quality,  and  capable  of 
furnishing  the  means  of  subsistence  for  a  dense  popula- 
tion, if  it  should  be  cleared  of  its  present  heavy  burden 
of  timber,  and  suitably  tilled.  It  is  not  stony,  though 
stones  are  to  be  found  nearly  all  the  way.  The  country 
seems  to  be  well  watered  with  clear  transparent  streams." 

Crossing  Forty-five  Mile  Portage,  between  Montreal 
river  and  Portage  Lake,  at  the  same  time  that  the  gen- 
tleman engaged  in  the  fur  trade  at  Lac  du  Flambeau 
was  conveying  his  goods  to  that  post,  Mr.  Hall  describes 
the  laborious  method  of  transportation,  which  is  neces- 
sarily resorted  to  in  those  uncultivated  and  almost  deso- 
late regions. 

"All  the  goods  for  this  department  of  the  Indian 
trade,  together  with  a  considerable  quantity  of  provi- 
sions, are  carried  across  this  portage  on  the  backs  of 
men.  Not  a  pound  of  flour,  or  salt,  or  butter,  or  j)ork^ 
or  scarcely  any  other  article  of  living  consumed  at  the 
post,  except  vegetables,  a  little  corn,  wild  rice,  and  fish, 
and  a  small  quantity  of  wild  meat,  can  be  obtained  in 
any  other  manner.  All  the  tobacco,  powder,  shot,  and 
balls,  used  in  the  trade,  and  every  heavy  utensil  for 
household  use,  and  implements  for  cultivating  the 
ground,  which  cannot  be  made  by  unskilful  mechanics 
on  the  spot,  all  the  nails  and  glass  for  building,  and  the 
tools  necessary  for  mechanical  purposes,  must  all  find 
their  way  through  these  forests  in  the  same  manner. 
On  the  other  hand,  all  the  furs  and  peltries  collected  in 
the  department,  many  of  which  are  brought  some  hun- 
dreds, of  miles  before  they  reach  Lac  du  Flambeau,  are 


430  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

conveyed  to  market  over  the  same  road,  and  by  the 
same  kind  of  conveyance. 

"  The  goods  are  obtained  at  Mackinaw,  and  brought 
through  the  lake,  till  they  enter  the  Montreal  river,  a 
distance  of  five  or  six  hundred  miles,  in  boats  rowed  by 
men.  At  the  commencement  of  the  portage,  they  are 
put  up  into  packs  or  bales,  convenient  for  carrying, 
Avhich,  in  the  language  of  the  country,  are  teraied 
pieces.  Each  piece  is  allowed  to  weigh  eighty  pounds. 
A  barrel  of  flour  is  put  into  two  bags,  and  each  is  con- 
sidered a  piece.  A  keg  of  pork  or  a  keg  of  gunpowder 
is  considered  also  a  piece,  and  a  bushel  and  a  half  of 
corn.  Two  of  these  pieces  constitute  each  man's  load. 
The  carrier  uses  a  collar,  which  is  composed  of  a  strap 
of  leather  about  three  inches  wide  in  the  middle,  to 
which  smaller  straps  are  attached  of  a  sufficient  length 
to  tie  round  the  object  to  be  carried.  These  straps  are 
tied  round  each  end  of  the  piece,  which  is  then  swung 
upon  the  back,  the  lower  part  resting  about  on  the  loins, 
and  the  collar  is  brought  over  the  top  of  the  head.  The 
person,  when  he  takes  his  load,  inclines  a  little  forward, 
so  tl^t  it  rests  considerably  on  the  back,  and  draws  but 
gently  on  the  collar  suspended  across  the  head.  After 
the  first  piece  is  thus  swung  on  the  back,  the  second  is 
taken  up  and  laid  on  the  top  of  it,  reaching,  if  it  be 
large,  nearly  to  the  top  of  the  head.  I  was  surprised 
to  see  with  what  ease  these  men,  after  they  had  sus- 
pended the  first  piece,  would  raise  up  the  second  and 
place  it  on  the  top  of  it.  The  party  consisted  of  ten 
men,  and  each  man  had  ten  pieces,  or  five  loads  to  carrj'' 
across  the  portage.  They  keep  the  whole  of  the  goods 
together ;  that  is,  each  one  takes  one  load  and  marches 
with  it,  the  distance  of  one-half  or  one-third  of  a  mile. 


REV.  MR.  BOUTWELL'S  MISSION  AT  LEECH  LAKE.  431 

and  then  returns  for  a  second.  This  they  repeat  till  all 
their  loads  are  brought  up  to  this  point.  Each  man's 
pieces  are  allotted  to  him  at  the  commencement  of  the 
portage,  and  he  keeps  the  same  through.  There  are  in 
all  one  hundred  and  twenty-two  poses,  or  stopping- 
places,  on  this  portage.  The  carriers  march  very 
rapidly  when  loaded.  About  two  hundred  of  these 
pieces,  in  goods  and  provisions,  are  required  for  this 
department  annually.  When  we  passed  these  men, 
they  had  been  sixteen  days  on  the  portage,  and  had 
got  about  two-thirds  of  the  way  across  it.  After  they 
cross  this,  they  have  two  other  portages  to  make  before 
they  reach  Lac  du  Flambeau,  one  of  "svhich  is  one 
hundred  and  fifty  or  two  hundred  rods,  and  the  other 
about  three  miles  in  length. 

"  September  twenty-third.  I  reached  the  trading- 
post  of  Mr.  Oakes,  by  whom  I  was  very  kindly  received, 
on  the  twentieth.  The  village  of  the  Indians  is  two  or 
three  miles  distant  from  his  post.  This  morning  three 
men,  having  heard  that  I  had  arrived,  came,  as  they 
said,  to  see  me,  and  to  hear  what  I  had  to  say  to  them. 
Two  of  them  were  young  men,  and  the  other  I  should 
judge  to  be  about  fift}',  of  a  straight,  well  proportioned 
body  and  limbs,  not  very  tall,  a  countenance  rather 
dignified,  a  keen,  arch-looking  eye,  and  a  carriage  that 
told  him  to  be  a  man  who  claimed  some  title  to  chief- 
tainship among  his  band.  I  greeted  them  in  a  friendly 
manner,  and  told  them  I  was  glad  to  see  them,  and  if 
they  would  listen,  I  would  tell  them  something  about 
God  and  his  word." 

On  the  fifteenth  of  September,  1833,  Mr.  Ayer  arrived 
at  Yellow  Lake,  also  in  the  extreme  north-western  por- 
tion of  Wisconsin,  for  the  purpose  of  commencmg  a  mis- 


432  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

sion  station.  In  October  of  the  same  year  the  Rev.  W.  T. 
Boutwell  proceeded  to  Leech  Lake,  and  estabhshed  the 
first  mission  in  Minnesota  west  of  the  Mississippi.  Mr. 
E.  F.  Ely^  became  a  teacher  during  this  year,  at  the 
trading-post  of  Mr.  Aitkin,  at  Sandy  Lake,  Minnesota ; 
but  the  next  year  opened  a  school  at  Fond  du  Lac,  on 
the  St.  Louis  river. 

Calvinism  is  frequently  represented,  by  those  who  do 
not  embrace  its  tenets,  as  a  mere  abstract  system,  only 
anxious  to  impress  upon  the  race  stern  theological  for- 
mulas ;  but  the  journals  of  its  missionaries  among  the 
savages  are  alwaj^s  eminently  cheerful,  hopeful,  and 
practical.  They  came  to  the  untutored  Indians  of  Min- 
nesota, not  with  a  long-drawn  countenance,  and  severe 
exterior,  but  they  came  singing  songs  for  the  little  ones, 
and  teaching  the  men  to  plough,  and  the  women  to  sew 
and  knit. 

The  following  letter,  written  in  1833,  by  Rev.  Mr. 
Boutwell,  is  full  of  sunshine  from  one  of  the  dark  places 
of  earth.  Leech  Lake,  the  abode  of  the  Pillagers,  the 
most  savage  of  all  the  bands  of  Minnesota  : — 

"  I  arrived  at  this  place  October  third.  Passing  for 
the  present  in  silence  the  particulars  of  my  voyage,  I 
will  proceed  directly  to  give  you  some  account  of  my 
reception.     When  I  arrived,  the  men,  with  few  excep- 

^  Letter  from  Mr.  Ely,  at  Sandy  with  the  outlet  of  the  lake  running 

Lake,  September  twenty-fifth,  1833.  within  eighty  feet  of  the  house;  the 

"  I  arrived  at  this  post  September  Mississippi   is  about  the  same  dis- 

uineteenth,  and  am   happily  disap-  tance  on  the  west ;  and  their  conflu- 

pointedintheappearanceof  the  place,  ence  is  about  ten  rods  below.     On 

I  occupy  a  large  chamber  in  Mr.  Ait-  the  twenty-third  Mr.  Boutwell  left 

kin's  house,  which  is  both  a  school-  us  for  Leech  Lake.     My  school  was 

room  and  lodging-room,  commanding  commenced  on  the  same   day  with 

an  eastern  view  of  Mr.  A.'s  fields  six    or    eight    scholars.     To-day    I 

and  meadows,  and  of  the  lake  and  have  had  fifteen." 
hills   covered   with  pines,  together 


LITTLE  CHILDREN  ATTRACTED  BY  SONGS.  433 

tions,  were  making  their  fall  hunts,  while  their  families 
remained  at  the  lake,  and  in  its  vicinity,  to  gather  their 
corn  and  make  rice.  A  few  lodges  were  encamped  quite 
near.  These  I  began  to  visit  for  the  purpose  of  read- 
ing, singing,  etc.,  in  order  to  interest  the  children,  and 
awaken  in  them  a  desire  for  instruction.  I  told  them 
about  the  children  at  Mackinaw,  the  Sault,  and  at  La 
Pointe,  who  could  read,  write,  and  sing.  To  this  they 
would  listen  attentively,  while  the  mother  would  often 
reply,  '  My  children  are  poor  and  ignorant.'  To  a  per- 
son unaccustomed  to  Indian  manners  and  Indian  wild- 
ness,  it  would  have  been  amusing  to  have  seen  the  little 
ones,  as  I  approached  their  lodge,  running  and  scream- 
ing, more  terrified,  if  possible,  than  if  they  had  met  a 
bear  robbed  of  her  whelps.  It  was  not  long,  however, 
before  most  of  them  overcame  their  fears ;  and  in  a  few 
days  my  dwelling  (a  lodge  which  I  occupied  for  three 
or  four  weeks)  was  frequented  from  morning  till  eve- 
ning by  an  interesting  group  of  boys,  all  desirous  to 
learn  to  read  and  sing.  To  have  seen  them  hanging, 
some  on  one  knee,  others  upon  my  shoulder,  reading  and 
singing,  wdiile  others,  whether  from  shame  or  fear  I 
know  not,  who  dared  not  venture  within,  were  peeping 
in  through  the  sides  of  the  cottage,  or  lying  flat  upon 
the  ground  and  looking  under  the  bottom,  might  have 
provoked  a  smile,  especially  to  have  seen  them  as  they 
caught  a  glance  of  my  eye,  springing  upon  their  feet 
and  running  like  so  many  wild  asses'  colts.  The  rain, 
cold,  and  snow  were  alike  to  them,  in  which  they  would 
come  day  after  day,  many  of  them  clad  merely  with  a 
blanket  and  a  narrow  strip  of  cloth  about  the  loins. 

"  The  men  at  length  returned,  and  an  opportunity 
was  presented  me  for  reading  to  them.     The  greater 

28 


434  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

part  listeued  attentively.  .  Some  would  come  back  and 
ask  me  to  read  more.  Others  laughed  and  aimed  to 
make  sport,  both  of  me  and  my  book.  I  heeded  as  if 
I  understood  not.  I  had  been  laughed  at  and  called  a 
fool  before.  Besides,  I  remembered  to  have  read,  '  the 
servant  is  not  above  his  master.'  The  second  chief 
(Riji  Osaie),  the  Elder  Brother  as  he  is  called,  now  re- 
turned. This  chief,  though  nominally  second,  is  really 
the  first  in  the  affections  of  the  band.  He  is  a  man 
who  courts  neither  the  favour,  nor  fears  the  frown  of 
his  fellow,  but  speaks  independently  what  he  thinks. 
One  morning,  after  breakfasting  with  us,  I  said  to  him, 
'  I  have  come  to  pass  the  winter  with  your  trader,  and 
I  thought  I  would  teach  some  of  the  cliildren  to  read  if 
their  parents  were  pleased.'  '  It  is  a  good  thing  to  in- 
struct the  children,  and  I  do  not  think  an  Indian  in  the 
whole  band  can  be  displeased  or  say  a  word  against  it,' 
replied  he.  A  higher  object  than  this,  even  this  man 
could  not  appreciate  at  present.  This  was  all  and  even 
more  than  I  anticipated  from  him,  knowing  as  I  did 
something  of  the  past  history,  as  well  as  present  dispo- 
sition of  the  band.  A  few  days  after,  as  an  Indian  was 
leaving  with  his  family  for  his  winter  hunt,  he  came  and 
asked  me  if  I  should  be  pleased  to  have  his  little  boy, 
a  lad  of  ten  years,  remain  with  me.  '  Certainly,'  replied 
I, '  if  I  had  the  means  of  feeding  him.'  The  trader  sit- 
ting by  kindly  offered  to  feed  the  boy,  and  the  father  left 
him  in  my  care,  saying,  '  If  you  will  teach  him  to  read 
as  the  whites  do,  I  should  be  so  glad  I  do  not  know 
what  I  could  do  for  you.'  He  is  a  lad  of  much  promise, 
enthusiastically  fond  of  his  books,  and  often  expresses  a 
strong  desire  to  learn  to  read  English.  It  is  but  about 
six  weeks  since  he  first  saw  a  book  in  his  own  language ; 


NOTICE  OF  LEECH  LAKE  OJIBWAYS.  435 

yet  he  noAV  reads  and  spells  in  two  syllables,  counts  one 
hundred  in  Indian,  and  forty  in  English,  repeats  and 
sings  several  hymns  in  Indian,  and  is  committing  the 
ten  commandments.  The  like  request  was  made  by 
one  or  two  others,  but  I  had  no  means  of  my  own  of 
either  feeding  or  sheltering  them. 

"  You  are  now  prepared  to  hear  me  say  from  what  I 
have  seen,  and  so  far  as  I  am  able  to  judge,  the  Lord 
hath  opened  a  door,  and  apparently  preparing  the  way 
for  you  to  occupy  this  field  as  soon  as  you  can  furnish 
the  men  and  the  means.  In  my  opinion  the  sooner 
you  occupy  it  the  better.  The  question  has  often  been 
put  to  me  by  the  Indians,  '  Will  you  leave  in  the 
spring  ?'  '  Will  3'ou  come  back  again  ?'  The  only  reply 
I  could  make  (but  to  an  Indian  of  ambiguous  interpre- 
tation), 'the  Lord  willing,  I  will  return  or  send  some 
other  person.'  That  there  are  individuals  who  would 
be  unwilling  to  have  their  children  instructed  at  present, 
I  have  no  doubt.  I  am  not  without  hope,  however, 
that  by  kindness  and  a  judicious  course  of  conduct,  their 
prejudices  would  soon  give  waj'.  I  am  equalh'  confident 
also,  that  there  are  individuals  in  the  band,  and  I  trust  a 
goodly  number,  who  would  be  highly  pleased  to  have  a 
kmd  and  judicious  missionary  located  here. 

"  In  relation  to  their  numbers  and  locality,  my  jour- 
nal, now  in  your  possession,  may  perhaps  give  you  all 
necessary  information.  Including  the  small  band  on 
Bear  Island,  excluded  from  the  estimate,  there  are  at 
least  eight  hundred  souls  belonging  to  Leech  Lake. 
The  Winnipeg  and  Upper-Red-Cedar  Lake  bands  are 
distant  but  a  day's  march,  wLich  in  this  country  and 
by  an  Indian  is  not  a  matter  of  reckoning. 

"  The  means  of  subsistence  which  the  country  afibrds 


436  HISTORY  OF  MIN^'ESOTA. 

are  not  inconsiderable.  These  are  fisli,  corn,  and  rice, 
and  they  are  the  almost  entire  dependence  of  the  traders. 
Fish  is  the  principal.  Not  less  than  thirty  thousand 
were  taken  this  fall  for  the  winter  supply  of  the  four 
houses  here.  They  are  called  tullibees,  the  only  name 
save  the  Indian  (Etonibins)  that  I  have  ever  heard. 
They  will  average  from  one  to  three  pounds  as  they  are 
taken  from  the  water.  The  manner  of  curing  them  is 
merely  to  hang  them  in  the  air  to  freeze — a  simple 
rather  than  a  safe  way.  The  trader  with  whom  I  pass 
the  winter  has  now  upon  the  scaffold  about  ten  thou- 
sand. For  two  weeks  past  the  weather  has  been  quite 
warm,  and  he  fears,  as  do  his  neighbours,  that  we  shall 
not  be  able  to  use  them.  If  fish  fail,  to  say  the  least,  we 
shall  all  grow  poor,  if  we  do  not  some  of  us  grow  hungry. 
There  was  comparatively  little  corn  raised  the  past 
season  by  the  Indians,  perhaps  one  hundred  and  fifty 
bushels.  They  are  now  in  the  habit  of  exchanging  corn 
and  rice  Avith  their  traders  for  strouds  and  blankets, 
which,  happily  for  the  Indians,  have  taken  the  place  of 
liquor,  which  is  now  a  prohibited  article  in  the  trade.  I 
am  credibly  informed  that  the  exceptions  were  rare  in 
which  an  Indian  would  not  give  his  last  sack  of  provi- 
sions for  whiskey.  Wild  rice,  an  article  of  much  de- 
pendence among  the  Indians,  nearly  failed  the  past 
season  on  account  of  high  water.  Hundreds  of  bushels 
of  this  excellent  food  are  often  gathered  from  the  small 
lakes  in  the  vicinity,  and  from  the  deep  bays  of  this 
lake.  Nowhere  between  Lake  Superior  and  the  head 
waters  of  the  Mississippi  has  the  God  of  providence  so 
bountifull}-  provided  for  the  subsistence  of  man  as  here. 
In  addition  to  rice  and  several  species  of  fish  which  this 
lake  affords,  the  soil  is  also  of  a  rich  quality  and  highly 


FERTILITY  OF  SOIL  AT  LEECH  LAKE.  437 

susceptible  of  cultivation.  All  the  English  grains,  in 
my  opinion,  may  be  cultivated  here.  At  present  an 
Indian's  garden  consists  merel}'  of  a  few  square  rods  in 
which  he  plants  a  little  corn  and  a  few  squashes.  Very 
few  as  yet  cultivate  the  potato,  probably  for  want  of 
seed.     Fish,  instead  of  bread,  is  here  the  staff  of  hfe. 

"  The  traders  here  have  found  it  impracticable  to  keep 
any  domestic  animal  save  the  dog  and  cat.  For  the 
least  offence  an  Indian  here  will  sooner  shoot  a  horse 
or  cow  for  revenge  than  a  dog.  Still  a  missionary  by 
the  second  or  third  year  will  be  better  able  to  judge 
than  I  now  can,  with  how  much  security  he  could  make 
the  experiment. 

"  If  the  Indians  can  be  induced  by  example  and  other 
helps  (such  as  seed  and  preparing  the  ground),  to  culti- 
vate more  largely,  they  would,  I  have  no  doubt,  furnish 
provisions  for  their  children  in  part.  If  a  mission  here 
should  furnish  the  means  of  feeding,  clothing,  and  in- 
structing the  children,  as  at  Mackinaw,  I  venture  to  sa}- 
there  would  be  no  lack  of  children.  But  such  an  esta- 
blishment is  not  only  impracticable  here ;  it  is  such  as 
would  ill  meet  the  exigencies  of  this  people.  While  a 
mission  proffers  them  aid,  they  should  be  made  to  feel 
that  they  must  try  at  least  to  help  themselves.  It 
should  be  placed  on  a  footing  that  will  instruct  them  in 
the  principles  of  political  economy.  At  present  there  is 
among  them  nothing  like  personal  rights,  or  individual 
property,  any  further  than  traps,  guns,  and  kettles  are 
concerned.  They  possess  all  things  in  common.  If  an 
Indian  has  anything  to  eat,  his  neighbours  are  all  allowed 
to  share  it  with  him.  While,  therefore,  a  mission  extends 
the  hand  of  charity  in  the  means  of  instruction,  and  occa- 
sionally an  article  of  clothing,  and  perhaps  some  aid  in 


438  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

2^rocuring  the  means  of  suhsistence,  it  should  he  only  to 
such  individuals  as  will  themselves  use  the  means  so  far 
as  they  possess  them.  This  might  operate  as  a  stimulus 
with  them  to  cultivate  and  fix  a  value  upon  corn,  rice, 
etc.,  at  least  with  such  as  care  to  have  their  children 
instructed,  rather  than  squander  it  in  feasts  and  feeding- 
such  as  are  too  indolent  to  make  a  garden  themselves. 
It  will  require  much  patience,  if  not  a  long  time,  to 
break  up  and  eradicate  habits  so  inveterate.  An  Indian 
cannot  eat  alone.  If  he  kills  a  pheasant,  his  neighbours 
must  come  in  for  a  portion,  small  indeed,  but  so  it  is. 
As  it  respects  furnishing  them  with  seeds  and  imple- 
ments of  husbandry,  this  may  be  done,  but  only  to  a 
certain  extent.  An  Indian  would  most  surel}^  take 
advantage  of  your  liberality.  Every  one  would  come, 
the  last  expecting  to  be  served  as  well,  if  not  better, 
than  the  first.  The  mention  of  a  single  fact  may  throw 
sufficient  light  upon  this  trait  in  Indian  character. 
While  at  Sandy  Lake,  on  my  way  here,  I  presented  a 
little  boy  with  a  shirt.  Not  half  an  hour  after  he  had 
gone  out,  no  less  than  half  a  dozen  others  came  for  the 
same  favour.  But  more,  I  have  known  boys  who  had 
a  shirt  pull  it  off  and  throw  it  aside,  while  they  would 
come  expecting  to  get  a  new  one,  in  case  you  had  made 
a  present  to  one  who  had  none.  They  are  so  jealous, 
that  the  utmost  precaution  must  be  observed  in  making 
a  present  of  the  least  article  to  one  that  you  cannot 
make  to  another. 

"  So  far  as  my  observation  extends,  polygamy  is  more 
common  among  this  band  than  any  other  with  which 
I  am  acquainted.  Not  only  the  chiefs,  but  all  the  best 
hunters  who  are  able  to  clothe,  in  their  miserable  man- 
ner, more  than  one  woman,  keep  from  two  to  five.    One 


HOUSEKEEPING  OF  LEECH  LAKE  MISSIONARY.  439 

individual  keeps  three  who  are  sisters;  and  this  not 
being  sufficient,  has  a  fourth  woman." 

In  the  year  1834,  Mr.  Boutwell  was  married  at  Fond 
du  Lac,  to  an  interesting  and  educated  Anglojibway 
Lidy,  who  died  a  few  years  ago.  The  experiences  of 
married  Hfe  at  Leech  Lake,  are  narrated  in  his  journal 
pubUshed  in  the  Missionary-  Herald,  and  are  probably  the 
hrst  housekeeping  of  a  couple  married  according  to  the 
rites  of  Christianity,  beyond  the  walls  of  Fort  Snelling, 
in  Minnesota. 

"  The  clerk  very  kindly  invited  me  to  occupy  a  part 
of  his  quarters,  until  I  could  prepare  a  place  to  put 
myself  I  thought  best  to  decline  his  offer;  and  on  the 
thirteenth  instant,  removed  my  effects,  and  commenced 
housekeeping  in  a  bark  lodge.  Then,  here  I  was,  with- 
out a  quart  of  corn  or  Lidian  rice  to  eat  myself,  or  give 
my  man,  as  I  was  too  late  to  purchase  any  of  the  mere 
pittance  which  was  to  be  bought  or  sold.  My  nets, 
under  God,  were  my  sole  dependence  to  feed  mjself 
and  hired  man.  I  had  a  barrel  and  a  half  of  flour,  and 
ninety  pounds  of  pork  only  before  me  for  the  winter. 
But  on  the  seventeenth  of  the  same  month,  I  sent  my 
fisherman  ten  miles  distant  to  gather  our  winter's  stock 
of  provisions  out  of  the  deep.  In  the  mean  time,  I 
must  build  a  house,  or  winter  in  an  Indian  lodge. 
Rather  tlian  do  worse,  I  shouldered  my  axe  and  led  the 
way.  Inning  procured  a  man  of  the  trader  to  help  me ; 
and  in  about  ten  days  had  my  timbers  cut  and  on  the 
ground  ready  to  put  up. 

"  On  the  twelfth  of  November,  I  recalled  my  fisher- 
man, and  found  on  our  scaffold  nearly  six  thousand 
tulibees  (a  kind  of  fish  found  in  the  north-western 
lakes),  for  our  winter  supplies. 


440  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

"  On  the  second  of  December,  I  quit  my  bark  lodge 
for  a  mud-walled  house;  the  timbers  of  which,  I  not 
only  assisted  in  cutting,  but  also  carrying  on  my  back, 
until  the  rheumatism,  to  say  the  least,  threatened  to 
double  and  twist  me,  and  I  was  obliged  to  desist.  My 
house,  when  I  began  to  occupy  it,  had  a  door,  three 
windows,  and  a  mud  chimney;  but  neither  chair,  stool, 
nor  bedstead.  A  box  served  for  tlie  former,  and  an  In- 
dian mat  for  the  two  latter.  A  rude  figure,  indeed,  my 
house  w^ould  make  in  a  New  England  city,  with  its 
deer-skin  windows,  a  floor  that  had  never  seen  a  plane, 
or  a  saw,  and  a  mud  chimney;  but  it  is,  nevertheless, 
comfortable. 

"  When  I  arrived,  the  Indians,  as  I  expected,  were 
mostly  off  for  their  fall  hunt.  As  their  gardens  were 
nearly  destroyed  last  summer  by  the  worm,  and  rice 
again  failed,  their  families  were  obliged  to  go  to  the 
deer  country,  ten  days'  march  from  us.  This  circum- 
stance has  tended  to  remove  them,  for  the  time  being, 
from  our  intercourse  and  influence.  March  will  bring 
them  back  and  settle  them  down  around  us,  at  least  the 
major  part  of  them,  as  they  make  sugar  and  cultivate 
little  gardens  here  and  there,  where  each  family  chooses. 

"Among  those  whom  I  have  seen,  is  the  Elder  Bro- 
ther, the  second  chief,  who  expressed  his  satisfaction 
that  I  had  returned,  and  regretted  that  he  was  not 
present  at  my  arrival,  while  there  remained  a  few  men 
with  whom  he  would  have  smoked  and  spoken  on  the 
occasion.  The  first  chief,  a  few  days  since,  sent  me 
word  that  he  would  call  his  young  men  together  in  the 
spring,  when  he  returns  from  his  hunt.  Thus  far  these 
two  men  have  taken  an  honourable  and  decided  course, 
so  far  as  precept  can  go,  and  have  given  assurance  that 


FIRST  MISSIONS  ESTABLISHED  AMONG  DAHKOTAHS.       441 

this  sliould  be  followed  hy  practice,  in  case  a  permanent 
missionary  was  located  here.  What,  however,  the 
spring  will  decide,  when  the  good,  bad,  and  indifferent 
all  meet  together,  I  do  not  pretend  to  foretell.  The 
cause  is  God's,  and  he  will  order  all  things  well." 

The  Jesuits  considered  the  Dahkotalis  as  the  most 
fierce  of  all  the  tribes,  and  did  not  venture  their  lives 
in  their  midst,  except  for  a  few  months  by  the  side  of  a 
French  officer. 

It  was  not  till  the  year  1834,  that  any  formal  attempt 
was  made  to  instruct  them  in  the  arts,  letters,  or  in  the 
morality  of  the  Bible.  The  Rev.  Samuel  W.  Pond,  at 
that  time  a  layman  and  school  teacher  in  Galena,  Illi- 
nois, hearmg  accounts  of  the  Dahkotahs  from  Red  river 
emigrants,  became  interested  in  their  welfare,  and  wrote 
to  his  brother  Gideon  H.  Pond,  then  a  young  man  in 
their  native  place  in  Connecticut,  proposing  that  they 
should  cast  their  lot  with  the  Dahkotahs,  and  try  to  do 
them  good. 

The  proposition  was  accepted,  and  in  the  spring  of 
1834,  provided  with  neither  brass,  nor  scrip,  nor  purse, 
he  joined  his  brother  at  Galena,  and  embarking  on  board 
of  a  steamer,  they  arrived  at  Fort  Snelling  in  May. 

They  stated  their  plans  to  Mr.  Taliaferro,  the  Dah- 
kotah  agent,  and  were  treated  with  kindness  by  him 
and  Major  Bliss,  the  commander  of  the  fort.  Without 
aid  or  encouragement  from  any  missionary  society,  they 
proceeded  to  the  east  shore  of  Lake  Calhoun,  on  the 
banks  of  which  and  Lake  Harriet,  dwelt  small  bands 
of  Dahkotahs,  and  with  their  own  hands  erected  a  rude 
cabin  on  the  site  of  a  building  in  recent  times  occupied 
by  Charles  Musou. 

About  this  period,  a  native  of  South  Carolina,  and 


442  HISTORY  OF  MINxN'ESOTA. 

graduate  of  Jefferson  College,  Pennsylvania,  the  Rev. 
T.  S.  Williamson,  M.  D.,  who,  previous  to  his  ordina- 
tion, had  been  a  respectable  physician  in  Ohio,  was 
appointed  by  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  of 
Foreign  Missions  to  visit  the  Dahkotahs,  with  the  view 
of  ascertaining  what  could  be  done  to  introduce  Christ- 
ian instruction.  Having  made  in(|uiries  at  Prairie  du 
Chien  and  Fort  Snelling,  he  reported  that  the  field 
was  favourable.  The  Presbyterian  and  Congregational 
churches,  through  their  joint  missionary  society,  ap- 
pointed the  following  persons  to  labour  in  Minnesota : 
Rev.  Thomas  S.  Williamson,  M.  D.,  missionary  and  phy- 
sician ;  Rev.  J.  D.  Stevens,  missionary ;  Alexander  Hug- 
gens,  farmer ;  and  their  wives ;  Miss  Sarah  Poage,  and 
Lucy  C.  Stevens,  teachers ;  who  were  prevented  during 
the  year  1834,  by  the  state  of  navigation,  from  entering 
upon  their  work. 

During  the  winter  of  1834-35,  a  pious  officer  of  the 
army  exercised  a  good  influence  on  his  fellow  officers, 
and  soldiers  under  their  command.  In  the  absence  of 
a  chaplain  or  ordained  minister,  he,  like  General  Have- 
lock  of  the  British  army  in  India,  was  accustomed  not 
only  to  drill  the  soldiers,  but  to  meet  them  in  his  own 
quarters,  and  "  reason  with  them  of  righteousness,  tem- 
perance, and  judgment  to  come."^ 

In  the  month  of  May,  1835,  Dr.  Williamson  and 
mission  band  arrived  at  Fort  Snelling,  and  were  hospita- 
bly received  by  the  officers  of  the  garrison,  the  Indian 
agent,  and  Mr.  Sibley,  then  a  young  man,  who  had  re- 

^  The  growling  Englishman  Fea-  as  he  thought  sufficiently  notice  him, 

therstonhaugh,     whose     book     has  and  vents  his  spleen  by  calling  him 

been    noticed,   became    very  much  a  long,  lean,  canting,  "psalm-singing 

offended  because  this  officer  did  not  major." 


FIRST  CHURCH  AND  COMMUNION  IN  MINNESOTA.  443 

cently  taken  charge  of  the  trading-post  at  Mendota. 
On  the  second  Sabbath  in  June,  a  Presbyterian  church 
was  organized  in  one  of  the  company  rooms  of  the 
fort,  and  the  communion  was  administered  for  the  first 
time  in  Minnesota  to  twenty-two  persons  of  European 
extraction,  composed  of  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  army, 
those  engaged  in  the  fur  trade,  and  the  mission  families. 
The  late  Major  Ogden,  of  the  army,  who  died  at  Fort 
Riley,  here  professed  his  faith  in  Christianity.  Two 
posts  were  selected  by  the  missionaries  as  stations. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Stevens  and  family  proceeded  to  Lake 
Harriet,  in  Hennepin  county,  and  erected  a  house  near 
the  property  of  Eli  Pettijohn ;  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wil- 
liamson and  wife,  Mr.  Huggens,  the  farmer,  and  wife, 
and  Miss  Poage,  proceeded  to  Lac  qui  Parle.  After  a 
fatiguing  journey  of  seventeen  days,  without  meeting 
man  or  beast,  they  arrived  at  the  lake  on  the  ninth  of 
July,  and  were  Avamily  welcomed  by  the  well  known 
trader,  Renville,  whose  name  is  attached  to  one  of  the 
counties  of  Minnesota. 

Immediately  after  their  arrival  at  the  stations,  the 
missionaries  began  to  study  the  language  of  the  Dahko- 
tahs,  and  teach  the  children  what  they  could.  In  a 
letter  to  the  Cincinnati  Journal,  written  in  November, 
1835,  Dr.  Williamson  describes  Dahkotah  habits  as 
follows : — 

"  Gathering  the  corn,  as  well  as  whatever  else  pertains 
to  cultivating  the  earth,  is  considered  to  be  the  business 
of  the  women.  They  gather  it  in  their  blankets,  and 
carry  it  to  the  scaffold,  on  which  the}-  stand  to  drive 
off  the  birds.  Here  it  is  thrown  in  a  heap  exposed  to 
the  sun,  till  the  husks  begin  to  wilt.  These  husks  are 
then  stripped  from  the  corn,  but  most  of  them  still  left 


444  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

attached  to  the  cob.  The  husks  of  many  ears,  still  fast 
to  the  ear,  are  then  platted  together  into  a  long  string, 
by  which  the  corn  is  suspended  over  a  hole  to  dry. 
After  hanging  for  several  weeks,  exposed  to  the  weather 
till  it  is  entirely  freed  from  moisture,  the  corn  is  threshed 
off  the  cobs,  and  put  in  bags  made  of  skins  of  small  fibres 
of  lynn  bark  woven  together  with  the  fingers. 

"  The  smallest  and  most  unripe  ears  are  prepared  in 
a  different  way.  The  husks  being  entirely  torn  off, 
they  are  boiled.  Then  the  corn  is  shelled,  and  dried  by 
being  strewed  thin  where  it  will  be  exposed  to  the  direct 
rays  of  the  sun.  When  thoroughly  dried  it  is  put  in 
bags  same  as  the  other.  When  the  corn  is  sufficiently 
dried  it  is  put  in  sacks  containmg  from  one  to  two 
bushels  each,  and  put  away  in  what  are  called  caches 
by  the  traders.  These  are  made  by  digging  a  circular 
hole  about  eighteen  inches  in  diameter,  perpendicularly 
one  or  two  feet  deep,  and  then  enlarging  it  in  the  form 
of  an  earth  oven  till  of  sufficient  size  to  contain  what 
they  have  to  put  into  it.  They  are  usually  five  or  six 
feet  in  diameter  at  the  bottom,  and  as  much  in  depth. 
The  bottom  and  sides  are  lined  with  dry  grass,  on  which 
the  sacks  of  corn  are  placed.  Dry  grass  is  also  put  on 
top  of  the  corn  till  it  is  filled,  except  the  perpendicular 
part.  This  is  filled  with  earth  which  is  stamped  down 
firmly.  Com  thus  laid  away  keeps  dry  and  good  from 
September  till  April  under  ground. 

"  Flesh  of  every  kind  is  such  a  rarity  with  the  Dah- 
kotahs  of  these  parts,  that  they  eat  every  kind  of  quad- 
rupeds and  fowls  they  can  obtain.  Not  only  deer,  bear, 
and  squirrels,  grouse,  ducks,  and  geese,  but  muskrats, 
otters,  wolves,  foxes  and  badgers,  cranes,  hawks,  and 
owls.     They  eat  not  only  what  is  properly  called  the 


WEEPING  AND  WAILING  AT  LAKE  HARRIET.  445 

flesh  of  these  animals,  but  every  part  which  can  be 
supposed  to  contain  nutriment, — tlie  heads,  feet,  en- 
trails, and  the  skins,  if  they  be  not  valuable  as  an  article 
of  traffic.  After  picking  the  flesh  off  the  larger  bones, 
they  break  them  and  boil  them  to  get  any  little  oil  they 
may  contain  to  mix  with  their  com.  Exclusive  of  their 
corn,  their  food  consists  in  winter  chiefly  of  muskrats, 
badgers,  otters,  and  raccoons ;  in  the  spring,  of  fish,  and 
roots  which  the  earth  produces  spontaneously,  with  some 
ducks;  in  the  summer,  roots,  fish,  wild  pigeons,  and 
cranes ;  in  autumn,  wild  ducks,  geese,  and  muskrats." 

As  there  had  never  been  a  chaplain  at  Fort  Snelling, 
the  Rev.  J.  D.  Stevens,  the  missionary  at  Lake  Harriet, 
preached  on  Sundays  to  the  Presbyterian  church,  re- 
cently organized.  Writing  on  January  twenty-seventh, 
1836,  he  says,  in  relation  to  his  field  of  labour : — 

"  Yesterday  a  portion  of  this  band  of  Indians,  who 
had  been  some  time  absent  from  this  village,  returned. 
One  of  the  number  (a  woman)  was  informed  that  a 
brother  of  hers  had  died  during  her  absence.  He  was 
not  at  this  village,  but  with  another  band,  and  the  in- 
formation had  just  reached  here.  In  the  evening  they 
set  up  a  most  piteous  crying,  or  rather  wailing,  which 
continued,  with  some  little  cessations,  during  the  night. 
The  sister  of  the  deceased  brother  would  repeat,  times 
without  number,  words  which  may  be  thus  translated 
into  English :  '  Come,  my  brother,  I  shall  see  you  no 
more  for  ever.'  The  night  was  extremely  cold — the 
thermometer  standing  from  ten  to  twenty  below  zero. 
About  sunrise,  next  morning,  preparation  was  made  for 
performing  the  ceremony  of  cutting  their  flesh,  in  order 
to  give  relief  to  their  grief  of  mind.  The  snow  was 
removed  from  the  frozen  ground  over  about  as  large  a 


446  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

space  as  would  be  required  to  place  a  small  Indian 
lodge  or  wigwam.  In  the  centre  a  very  small  fire  was 
kindled  up,  not  to  give  warmth  apparently,  but  to 
cause  a  smoke.  The  sister  of  the  deceased,  who  was 
the  chief  mourner,  came  out  of  her  lodge  followed  by 
three  other  women,  who  repaired  to  the  place  prepared. 
They  were  all  barefooted,  and  nearly  naked.  Here 
they  set  up  a  most  bitter  lamentation  and  crying,  ming- 
Hng  their  wailings  with  the  words  before  mentioned. 
The  princij)al  mourner  commenced  gashing  or  cutting 
her  ankles  and  legs  up  to  the  knees  with  a  sharp  stone, 
until  her  legs  were  covered  with  gore  and  flowing  blood ; 
then  in  like  manner  her  arms,  shoulders,  and  breast. 
The  others  cut  themselves  in  the  same  way,  but  not  so 
severely.  On  this  poor  infatuated  woman  I  presume 
there  were  more  than  a  hundred  long  deep  gashes  in  the 
flesh.  I  saw  the  operation,  and  the  blood  instantly  fol- 
lowed the  instrument,  and  flowed  down  upon  the  flesh. 
She  appeared  frantic  ^^ith  grief.  Through  the  pain  of 
her  wounds,  the  loss  of  blood,  exhaustion  of  strength 
by  fasting,  loud  and  long-continued  and  bitter  groans, 
or  the  extreme  cold  upon  her  almost  naked  and  lacerated 
body,  she  soon  sunk  u}X)n  the  frozen  ground,  shaking  as 
with  a  violent  fit  of  the  ague,  and  writhing  in  apparent 
agony.  '  Surely,'  I  exclaimed,  as  I  beheld  the  bloody 
scene,  '  the  tender  mercies  of  the  heathen  are  cruelty !' 

"  The  little  church  at  the  fort  begins  to  manifest 
something  of  a  missionary  spirit.  Their  contributions 
are  considerable  for  so  small  a  number.  I  hope  they 
will  not  only  be  willing  to  contribute  liberally  of  their 
substance,  but  will  give  themselves,  at  least  some  of 
them,  to  the  missionary  work. 

"  The  surgeon  of  the  military  post,  Dr.  Jarvis,  has 


G.  II.  POND.— S.  W.  POND.— S.  R.  RIGGS.  447 

been  very  assiduous  in  his  attentions  to  us  in  our  sick- 
ness, and  has  very  generously  made  a  donation  to  our 
board  of  twenty-five  dollars,  being  the  amount  of  his 
medical  services  in  our  family. 

"  On  the  nineteenth  instant  we  commenced  a  school 
with  six  full  Indian  children,  at  least  so  in  all  their 
habits,  dress,  etc. ;  not  one  could  speak  a  word  of  any 
language  but  Sioux.  The  school  has  since  increased  to 
the  number  of  twenty-five.  I  am  now  collecting  and 
arranging  words  for  a  dictionary.  Mr.  Pond  is  assidu- 
ously employed  in  preparing  a  small  spelling-book,  which 
we  may  forward  next  mail  for  printing. 

"  Since  the  Indians  have  returned  to  their  village,  I 
have  felt  it  important  to  spend  the  Sabbath  at  the  sta- 
tion generally.  I  have  determined  on  going  to  the  fort 
only  on  one  Sabbath  in  each  month.  We  have  not  yet 
been  able  to  collect  the  Indians  together,  to  give  them 
religious  mstructions  on  the  Sabbath,  for  want  of  an 
interpreter." 

During  the  year  1836  a  Presbyterian  church  was 
organized  at  Lac  qui  Parle,  and  the  bois  brule  trader, 
Renville,  became  a  member,  and  subsequently^  his  Avife, 
the  first  pure  Dahkotah  that  ever  professed,  and  the 
first  that  ever  died  in  the  Christian  fliith. 

During  the  year  1837  Mr.  G.  H.  Pond  offered  his  ser- 
vices as  farmer  and  teacher  at  Lac  qui  Parle,  and  Mr. 
S.  W.  Pond  became  a  teacher  in  the  mission  at  Lake 
Harriet.  The  mission  was  also  strengthened  by  the 
arrival  of  Rev.  Stephen  R.  Riggs,  a  graduate  of  Jeffer- 
son College,  Pennsylvania,  and  his  wife.  After  remain- 
ing some  time  at  Lake  Harriet,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Riggs  went 
to  Lac  qui  Parle. 


448  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


CHAPTER    XXL 

Minnesota  has  ever  been  a  favourite  ranging-ground 
of  the  buffalo.  This  animal  does  not  appear  to  have 
roamed  in  what  is  now  called  Canada,  and,  previous  to 
the  visit  of  Perrot  to  the  region  of  Lake  Michigan,  but 
little  was  known  concerning  its  habits.  Two  centuries 
ago,  in  a  description  of  New  York,  it  is  said  "  traders 
who  come  from  a  great  distance  make  mention  of  lions 
skins,  which  ^\\W.  not  be  bartered  because  they  are  used 
for  clothing,  being  much  warmer  than  others."  These 
supposed  lions'  skins  were  evidently  buff'alo  robes. 
Joliet  and  Marquette,  descendmg  the  Mississippi,  in 
1673,  saw  these  animals;  and  the  latter,  in  his  journal, 
says : — 

"  We  call  them  wild  cattle  because  they  are  like  our 
domestic  cattle ;  they  are  not  longer,  but  almost  as  big 
again,  and  more  corpulent;  our  men  having  killed* one, 
three  of  us  had  considerable  trouble  in  moving  it.  The 
head  is  very  large,  the  forehead  flat,  and  a  foot  and  a 
half  broad  between  the  horns,  which  are  exactly  like 
our  cattle,  except  that  they  are  black  and  much  larger. 
Under  the  neck  there  is  a  kind  of  large  crop  hanging 
down,  and  on  the  back  a  pretty  high  hump.  The  whole 
head,  the  neck,  and  part  of  the  shoulders  are  covered 


RED  RIVER  CARTS.— HUNTERS.  449 

with  a  great  mane  like  a  horse's ;  it  is  at  least  a  foot 
long,  which  renders  them  hideous,  and,  falling  over  their 
eyes,  prevents  their  seeing  before  them.  The  rest  of 
the  body  is  covered  with  a  coarse,  curly  hair  hke  the 
wool  of  our  sheep,  but  much  stronger  and  thicker.  It 
falls  in  summer,  and  the  skm  is  then  as  soft  as  velvet. 
At  this  time  the  Indians  employ  the  skins  to  make 
beautiful  robes,  which  they  paint  with  various  colours." 

The  first  engraving  of  the  buffalo  is  found  in  the  book 
of  travels  of  Hennepin.  In  1677  La  Salle  was  in 
France,  and  represented  to  Colbert,  the  minister,  that 
he  wished  to  continue  discoveries  where  commerce  in 
the  skins  and  wool  of  the  buffalo  might  establish  a  great 
trade  and  support  powerful  colonies. 

For  many  years  the  half-breeds  of  the  Hudson  Bay 
Company  have  subsisted  by  hunting  the  buffalo  on  the 
plains  of  Minnesota,  and  their  encroachments  on  the 
territory  of  the  United  States  have  been  a  just  ground 
of  complaint.^  With  the  commencement  of  each  spring 
these  hunters  commence  preparations  for  their  campaign, 
and  about  the  month  of  June  they  march  forth  to 
the  plains.  Their  carts  are  truly  primitive,  having 
the  ajDpearance  of  being  made  before  the  days  of  Tubal 
Cain.  Not  a  particle  of  iron  fastens  them  together. 
The  wheels  are  without  tires,  and  wooden  pegs  take  the 
place  of  iron  spikes.  Into  the  shafts  an  ox  is  harnessed 
with  gearing  made  of  raw  hide,  and  with  this  vehicle 
they  travel  hundreds  of  miles.     Women  and  children 

^  The  following  list  gives  an  idea  In  1825,  there  were  G80  carts, 

of  the   extent  of   the    hunting  by  "  1830,     "        "      820     " 

British    half-breeds   in    Minnesota.  "  1835,     "        "      970     " 

The  number  of  carts  fur  the  first  trip  "  1840,     "        "    1210     " 
of  each  year  is  given  : — 
29 


450  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

accompany  the  hunters,  and,  as  they  wind  over  the 
prairies  in  their  gay  hunting  attire,  they  appear  Uke  bold 
crusaders  on  a  pilgrimage.  When  they  halt  for  the 
night,  the  carts  are  arranged  in  the  form  of  a  circle,  with 
tlie  shafts  projecting  outward,  and  within  this  wooden 
cordon  the  tents  are  pitched  at  one  end,  and  the  animals 
tethered  at  the  other  extremity — when  danger  is  anti- 
cipated. The  camp  is  under  complete  organization.  At 
a  meeting  of  the  hunters,  chiefs  are  nominated,  one  of 
whom  acts  as  chief  captain.  The  rules  formed  by  the 
council  of  captains  are  implicitly  obeyed.^  At  the  hoist- 
ing of  the  flag  in  the  morning  all  hands  are  "  up  and 
doing,"  and  at  the  lowering  of  the  flag  all  halt  for  the 
night  and  pitch  their  tents.  The  flag,  to  these  modern 
sons  of  Ishmael,  is  what  the  pillar  of  cloud  was  to  the 
camp  of  the  children  of  Israel. 

On  the  fourth  of  July,  1840,  there  was  a  grand  buffalo 
chase  near  the  Cheyenne  river  in  Minnesota.  An  eye- 
witness ^  describes  the  scene  : — 

"  At  eight  o'clock,  the  whole  cavalcade  made  for  the 
bufialo;  first  at  a  slow  trot,  then  at  a  gallop,  and  lastly 
at  full  speed.     Their  advance  was  on  a  dead  level ;  the 

^  In  1840,  the  following  were  some  these  laws,  the  offender  to  have  his 

of  the  rules  of  the  camp,  as  deter-  saddle  and  bridle  cut  up. 
mined  at  Pembina : —  6.  For  the  second  offence,  the  coat 

1.  No  bufialo  to  be  run  on  the  to  be  taken  off  the  offender's  back, 
Sabbath  day.  and  cut  up. 

2.  No  party  to  fork  off,  lag  be-  7.  For  the  third  offence,  offender 
hind,  or  go  before,  without  permis-  to  be  flogged. 

sion.  8.  Any  person  convicted  of  theft, 

3.  No  person  to  run  buffalo  before  even  to  the  value  of  a  sinew,  to  be 
the  general  order.  brought  to  the  middle  of  the  camp, 

4.  Every  captain  with  his  men,  in  and  the  crier  to  call  out  his  or  her 
turn  to  patrol  the  camp  and  keep  name  three  times,  adding  the  word 
guard.  "  Thief,"  at  each  time. 

5.  For  the  first  trespass  against  ^  Alexander  Ross. 


BUFFALO  HUNT  IN  1840.  451 

plain  having  no  hollow  or  shelter  of  any  kind  to  con- 
ceal their  approach.  When  within  four  or  five  hundred 
yards,  the  bulls  began  to  curve  their  tails  and  paw  the 
ground,  and  in  a  moment  more  the  herd  take  flight, 
and  the  hunters  burst  in  among  them  and  fire.  Those 
who  have  seen  a  squadron  of  horse  dash  into  battle 
may  imagine  the  scene.  The  earth  seemed  to  tremble 
when  the  horses  started;  but  when  the  animals  fled,  it 
was  like  the  shock  of  an  earthquake.  The  air  was 
darkened,  and  rapid  firing  at  last  became  more  faint,  as 
the  hunters  became  more  distant." 

During  the  day,  at  least  two  thousand  bufl^aloes  must 
have  been  killed,  for  there  were  brought  in  to  the  camp 
that  evening  1375  tongues.  The  hunters  are  exceed- 
ingly expert ;  with  their  mouth  full  of  balls,  they  load 
and  fire  on  the  gallop.  The  carts  follow  out  after  the 
hunters  and  bring  in  the  carcasses,  and  for  several  days 
there  is  a  busy  scene  in  camp.  Much  of  the  meat  is 
useless  in  consequence  of  the  heat  of  the  season;  but 
the  skins  are  dressed,  the  tongues  cured,  and  pemmican 
prepared.^ 

The  last  buffalo  seen  below  St.  Paul  east  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, was  in  1832,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Trempe  a 
I'Eau. 

The  history  of  Minnesota  is  now  beginning  to  be 
identified  with  those  who  are  its  citizens,  and  still  in 
the  vigour  of  life. 

The  duty  of  the  historian  is  simply  to  narrate  facts ; 

•    Pemmican   is   a  staple   to  the  Sacks  of  raw  hide  are  then  made, 

hunter  and  voyageur.     It  is  made  by  into  which  the  preparation  is  poured 

boiling  the  tallow  of  the  buffalo,  and  in  a  fluid  state, 
aiising    with    it    shreds    of    meat. 


452  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

and  his  views  concerning  living  men,  and  their  pubUc 
acts,  are  not  to  be  expected. 

During  the  year  1836,  a  Mr.  Dickson,  styhng  himself 
General  of  the  Indian  Liberating  Army,  with  several 
others,  appeared  in  the  Red  River  settlement,  and 
endeavoured  to  enlist  the  settlers  in  a  project  to  unite 
all  the  Indian  nations  under  a  common  government,  of 
which  he  was  to  be  the  head,  with  the  title  of  Monte- 
7Aima  the  Second.  His  officers  were  dressed  in  showy 
uniforms  and  glittering  epaulettes.^  Before  they  arrived 
at  Red  river,  the  cold  weather  came,  and  the  leader  had 
his  toes  frozen  off,  which  crippled  him  as  well  as  the 
whole  enterprise. 

The  latter  part  of  the  following  winter,  one  of  the 
expedition,  Martin  McLeod,  who  has  since  become  one 
of  our  most  active  citizens,  and  whose  name  is  attached 
to  a  county,  left  Red  river  for  the  United  States,  on 
snow  shoes.  His  two  companions,  a  Polander  and  an 
Irishman,  both  perished  in  a  snow  storm  near  Cheyenne 
river.  He  and  his  guide,  Pierre  Bottineau,^  were  twent}^- 
six  days  without  seeing  a  living  soul ;  and  after  being- 
five  days  without  food,  ate  one  of  their  dogs,  and  at 
last  reached  the  trading-post  of  the  Hon.  Joseph  R. 
Brown,  at  Lake  Traverse. 

In  the  month  of  February,  1837,  missionaries  sent 
out  by  the  Evangelical  Society  at  Lausanne,  Switzer- 
land, arrived  and  located  at  Red  Wing  and  Wapashaw 
villages ;  but  after  a  few  years  of  toil,  they  abandoned 
the  attempt  to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  the  Dahko- 
tah.     About  the  same  time  a  Methodist  mission  was 


Martin's  Hudson's  Bay,  Loudon. 

Now  a  resident  of  St.  Anthony. 


IMPORTANT  TREATIES  IN  1837.  453 

commenced  at  Kaposia,  afterwards  moved  to  Red  Rock, 
after  a  large  expenditure,  was  finally  abandoned. 

The  year  1837,  forms  an  era  in  the  history  of  Min- 
nesota, as  the  first  steps  were  then  taken  for  the  intro- 
duction of  the  woodman's  axe,  and  the  splash  of  the 
mill-wheel. 

Governor  Dodge,  of  Wisconsin  Territory,  convened 
the  Ojibways  at  Fort  Snelling,  and  made  a  treaty  by 
which  the  pine  forests  of  the  valley  of  the  St.  Croix 
and  its  tributaries  were  ceded  to  the  United  States. 

A  deputation  of  Dahkotahs  the  same  year  proceeded 
to  Washington,  and  in  the  month  of  September,  con- 
cluded a  treaty  by  which  they  ceded  all  their  lands  east 
of  the  Mississippi,  including  all  of  Washington  and 
Ramsey  counties,  to  the  United  States. 

J.  B.  Faribault  and  Pelagic,  his  wife,  presented  a 
claim  to  the  United  States  government  for  the  island  in 
front  of  Fort  Snelling,  which  Pike  had  purchased.  The 
claim  was  based  upon  a  grant  made  by  the  Dahkotahs 
in  1820.^ 

After  the  treaties  with  the  Indians  were  concluded, 
Messrs.  Baker,  Taylor,  and  Franklin  Steele  made  a 
claim,  and  commenced  the  improvement  of  the  valuable 
water-power  at  the  Falls  of  St.  Croix. 

Among  visiters  of  note  this  year  was  the  distinguished 
novelist,  Maryatt.     Like  all  mere  tourists,  he  has  been 

^  Extract  from  papers  presented  to  bault,  and  to  her  heirs  for  ever,  the 

the  secretary  of  war  by  Alexis  Bailly,  island  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  St. 

and   S.  C.    Stambaugh,  prosecutors  Pierre,  being  the  large  island,  con- 

of  the  claim.     Grant  confirmed  by  taining  by  estimation,  three  hundred 

Indians  August  ninth,  1820: —  and   twenty  acres.     ****** 

"  Also  we  do  hereby  reserve,  give,  The  said  Pelagi  Farribault  being  the 

grant  and  convey,  to  Pelagi  Farri-  daughter  of  Fran<;oi8   Kinie,  by  a 

bault,  wife  of  John   Baptist  Farri-  woman  of  our  nation." 


454  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

betrayed  into  inaccuracies;  and  yet  it  is  interesting  to 
note  the  impression  produced  by  an  intelligent  mind  at 
that  period — when  the  country  was  still  in  possession  of 
savages. 

The  winter  of  1837-38  was  one  of  sufiering  among 
the  Dahkotahs  of  the  Upper  Minnesota.  Famine,  and 
the  loathsome  disease  small-pox,  made  its  appearance 
at  Lake  Traverse,  and  produced  wailing,  weeping,  and 
gnashing  of  teeth.  The  disease  was  communicated  by 
some  who  had  been  on  a  steamboat  on  the  Missouri, 
and  they  were  swept  off  by  scores.  In  addition  to 
famine  and  pestilence,  the  war  whoop  was  again  raised. 

On  the  first  of  August,  1838,  a  small  hunting  party 
left  Lac  qui  Parle,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Gideon  H.  Pond, 
who  was  desirous  of  becoming  more  thoroughly  ac- 
quainted with  Dahkotah  modes  of  life.  In  the  fall 
of  1837,  Hole-in-the-day,  a  distinguished  Ojibway  chief, 
father  of  the  young  man  who  now  bears  that  name, 
had  smoked  the  calumet  with  the  Dahkotahs,  and 
promised  to  meet  them  the  next  spring,  and  make 
them  presents  for  the  privilege  of  hunting  on  their 
lands. 

After  travelHng  for  a  few  days,  the  hunting  party 
separated,  and  a  portion  proceeded  in  advance.  Three 
lodges  of  men,  women,  and  children  remained.  The 
afternoon  of  the  day  of  the  division  of  the  party,  eleven 
Ojibways  came  to  the  advance  lodges.  They  w^ere  re- 
ceived as  friends  :  two  dogs  were  killed,  and  they  feasted. 
Hilarity  ended,  the  Dahkotahs  lay  down  to  sleep.  When 
all  was  silent,  the  guests  arose  and  scalped  men,  women, 
children,  and  infants,  nearly  the  whole  camp.  Among 
those  who  escaped,  was  a  mother.  While  fleeing,  her 
babe  was  shot  in  her   arms,   and   she  was  wounded. 


G.  H.  POND  BURIES  SLAUGHTERED  INDIANS.  455 

Hastening  behind  a  tree,  she  ekided  the  enemy,  and 
watched  them  in  their  fiendish  work. 

After  they  left  the  scene,  she  returned  to  the  lodges, 
and  remained  till  the  dawn  of  day.  Fastening  two 
poles,  after  the  manner  of  Indians,  to  a  horse,  she 
placed  on  them  a  wounded  boy,  and  her  scalped  little 
ones,  and  proceeded  in  search  of  the  party  that  had 
gone  ahead.  At  length  finding  them,  she  told  her  tale 
of  woe.  Mr.  Pond,  in  company  with  an  Indian,  imme- 
diately repaired  to  the  scene  of  carnage,  and  found 
several  bodies  who  had  passed  from  the  sleep  of  life  to 
the  sleep  of  death,  without  opening  their  eyelids. 
Hastily  digging  a  grave,  the  severed  limbs,  heads,  and 
mangled  bodies  of  eleven  Dahkotahs  were  interred,  and 
covered  with  a  buffalo  skin  teepee.  On  the  fourteenth 
of  April  the  survivors  returned  to  Lac  qui  Parle,  and 
the  intelligence  caused  "  wailing  and  weeping." 

In  the  month  of  August,  a  war  party  left  Lac  qui 
Parle  to  retaliate  for  the  April  slaughter.  Discovering 
five  or  six  Ojibways,  they  attempted  to  scalp  them,  but 
all  escaped  their  hands  but  a  woman.  About  to  become 
a  mother,  she  swam  a  stream  with  difficulty,  and  sank 
down  on  the  opposite  bank  exhausted.  Her  pursuers 
soon  tore  her  scalp  from  her  head,  and  then,  ripping 
open  her  body,  dashed  the  unborn  babe  to  pieces. 

The  Ojibways,  at  Pokeguma,  became  very  much  afraid 
that  the  Dahkotahs  of  the  Mississippi  would  now  attack 
them.  Dancing  the  war  dance,  they  were  unfriendly  to 
the  mission  at  their  lake ;  shooting  cattle,  and  dashing 
a  canoe  to  pieces.  They  also  threatened  to  drive  the 
missionaries  and  all  others  from  the  country. 

Finding  some  lumbermen,  in  anticipation  of  the  rati- 
fication of  the  treaty  of  1837,  cutting  trees  at  the  mouth 


456  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

of  Snake  river,  they  pursued  them.  The  men  fled  down 
the  St.  Croix  in  their  canoes,  and,  at  the  imminent  risk 
of  their  lives,  floated  over  the  falls,  where  their  canoe 
sunk,  but  they  were  unhurt. 

A  few  miles  below  the  falls  they  were  met  by  the  first 
steamboat  that  had  ever  ascended  the  St.  Croix,  bring- 
ing the  welcome  news  of  the  ratification  of  the  treaty, 
which  had  been  made  at  Fort  Snelling  the  year  before, 
and  ratified  by  the  Senate  on  the  fifteenth  of  June,  1838. 
This  lioat  brought  to  the  country  Orange  Walker, 
Samuel  Burkleo,  and  others  who  were  interested  in  the 
Marine  Mills  in  Washington  county. 

After  the  unprovoked  attack  of  Hole-in-the-Day,  be- 
yond Lac  qui  Parle,  some  Dahkotahs  met  an  Ojibway, 
near  the  grave-yard,  at  Fort  Snelling,  and  killed  him. 
The  murderers  were  for  a  time  confined  in  the  guard- 
house of  the  fort,  but  at  last  set  at  libertj'.  During  the 
month  of  June,  1839,  hundreds  of  Ojibway s  arrived  at 
Fort  Snelling,  under  the  erroneous  impression  that  they 
were  to  receive  their  annuities  there.  While  there,  the 
neighbouring  Dahkotahs  visited  them.  They  drank, 
they  feasted,  they  danced  together.  Two  sons  of  the 
Ojibway,  murdered  near  the  grave-yard  the  year  before, 
took  the  occasion  to  go  and  weep  over  the  burial-place 
of  their  father.  The  thought  of  their  murdered  parent 
excited  a  desire  for  revenge ;  and,  that  night  secreting 
themselves  near  a  frequented  trail  at  Lake  Harriet,  at 
the  next  day's  dawn  the}^  shot  and  scalped  one  of  that 
band  named  "  Badger,"  who  was  starting  to  hunt.  The 
friends  of  the  murdered  one  soon  brought  him  home, 
wrapped  in  his  blanket. 

Yeetkadootah,  or  Red  Bird,  a  near  relative,  approach- 


BATTLES  OF  STILLWATER  AND  RUM  RIVER.  457 

ing,  removing  the  ornaments  from  the  corpse,  kissed 
it,  and  said  he  would  die  for  it. 

His  voice  was  now  hfted  up  for  war.  Raising  a  party, 
he  crossed  the  Mississippi  at  Fort  Snelhng,  in  pursuit 
of  the  Ojibways,  who  had  departed  for  their  country 
the  day  before.  While  assembled  on  the  east  bank  of 
the  Mississippi  they  bound  themselves  to  kill  all.  The 
Ojibways  had  gone  partly  by  the  St.  Croix,  and  partly 
by  the  Mississippi,  to  their  villages.  Red  Bird  deter- 
mined to  follow  the  party  that  had  ascended  the  Mis- 
sissippi. 

The  same  day  warriors  from  Kaposia,  and  the  other 
villages  in  the  vicinity  of  the  fort,  followed  the  trail 
leading  through  St.  Paul,  in  search  of  the  Ojibways  that 
had  gone  in  that  direction.  Travelling  until  night, 
they  found  the  Ojibways  sleeping  in  the  ravine  near 
the  penitentiary  at  Stillwater.  Perceiving  that  there 
was  a  white  man,  an  old  trader  (Mr.  Aitkin),  in  the 
enemy's  camp,  they  postponed  their  attack  until  dawn 
of  the  next  day,  as  they  did  not  wish  to  injure  him. 

At  daybreak,  the  first  intelligence  of  the  presence  of 
the  Dahkotahs  was  a  volley  of  musket  balls  poured 
from  the  bluffs  into  the  midst  of  the  Ojibway  camj). 

The  Ojibways,  fighting  bravely,  retreated  to  the 
shore  of  the  lake,  and  endeavoured  to  escape  in  their 
canoes ;  but,  before  the  conflict  was  over,  forty  or  fifty 
of  their  number  were  slain.  Ten  or  fifteen  Dahkotahs 
were  killed  and  wounded.^ 

About  the  time  that  the  battle  of  Stillwater  ended, 
Yeetkadootah's  party  came  up  to  the  women  and  child- 

^  The  one-legged  Indian,  known  to    lost  his  leg  by  a  wound  in  this  bat- 
the  citizens  of  St.  Paul  as  Lame  Jim,    tie. 


458  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

ren  of  the  Ojibways,  who  were  making  a  portage  on 
Rum  river,  while  the  men  were  absent  hunting  deer. 
With  lance,  scalping  knife,  and  tomahawk,  in  a  brief 
period  they  made  bloody  work.  In  their  haste  to  take 
scalps,  it  is  said  they  scalped  one  of  their  own  number. 

Yeetkadootah,  on  horseback,  approaching  a  wounded 
Ojibway,  who  still  held  his  gun  in  his  hand,  was  shot 
through  the  neck,  just  as  he  was  alighting  to  scalp  him. 

It  is  said  that  while  the  Ojibways  were  at  Fort  Snel- 
ling,  a  young  Dahkotah  brave  had  wooed  an  Ojibway 
maiden,  and  was  loved  in  return.  In  the  heat  of  the 
battle  he  found  his  tomahawk  raised  to  strike  a  woman, 
and  behold,  it  proved  to  be  her  whom  he  had  loved. 
She  begged  to  be  his  captive,  but  it  had  been  agreed 
that  there  should  be  no  quarter.  As  he  could  not  save 
her  he  passed  on,  and  in  an  instant,  one  in  the  rear 
cleft  her  skull  with  the  sharp  tomahawk.  From  these 
two  engagements  the  Dahkotahs  brought  back  ninety- 
one  scalps,  and  were  frantic  with  glory. 

In  1836,  before  the  Indian  title  was  extinguished, 
settlers  located  on  the  tract  of  land  on  the  east  side  of 
the  Mississippi,  between  St.  Paul  and  Fort  Snelling. 
By  the  treaty  of  September,  1837,  made  by  the  Dah- 
kotahs with  the  United  States,  which  was  ratified  by 
the  Senate  on  the  fifteenth  of  June,  1838,  the  Indian 
title  to  the  tract  in  question  ceased. 

In  March,  1838,  the  commander  at  Fort  Snelling 
selected  this  land  as  a  j^art  of  a  military  reservation. 
Consequently,  it  was  withheld  from  sale.  Those  who 
had  made  claims  upon  it,  were  much  dissatisfied,  and 
evinced  a  disposition  to  resist.  Orders  were  issued  from 
the  war  department,  to  the  United  States  Marshal  of 


REMOVAL  OF  SQUATTERS. 


459 


Wisconsin,  to  remove  the  intruders.^  The  greater  por- 
tion of  the  settlers  were  Swiss,  and  after  all  of  their 
migrations  from  Switzerland,  via  Hudson  Bay  Com- 
pany's possessions,  to  the  present  desirable  location, 
they  were  loath  to  depart.  The  troops  were  sum- 
marily called  out  from  the  fort  on  the  sixth  of  May, 
1840,  and  the  settlers  with  undue  haste  removed,  and 
on  the  next  day  the  troops  destroyed  their  cabins,  to 
prevent  re-occupation. 


^  Order  for  removal  of  squatters  on 
Military  Reserve,  Fort  Snelling : — 

'•  War  Department, 

Oct.  21,  18.39. 

"  Sir — The  interests  of  the  service, 
and  the  proper  and  effective  main- 
tenance of  the  military  post  at  Fort 
Snelling,  requiring  that  the  intruders 
on  the  land  recently  reserved  for 
military  purposes,  opposite  to  that 
post  east  of  the  Mississippi  river 
be  removed  therefrom,  the  President 
of  the  United  States  directs  that 
■when  required  by  the  commanding 
officer  of  the  post  you  proceed  there, 
and  remove  them  under  the  provi- 
sions of  the  act  of  March  third, 
1807,  entitled  '  An  act  to  prevent 
settlements  heing  made  on  lands 
ceded  to  the  United  States,  until 
authorized  by  law.' 

"  You  will  satisfy  yourself  of  the 
shortest  period  within  which  the 
intruders  can  make  their  arrange- 
ments for  removal,  and  depart  from 
the  reservation  without  serious  loss 
or  sacrifice  of  the  propertj-^  which 
they  may  have  to  take  witli  them, 
and  you  will  promptly  make  known 
to  them  that  it  is  expected  they  will 


not  delay  beyond  that  period ;  as 
should  they  do  so,  it  ■will  become  your 
duty  to  remove  them  by  military  force. 
It  is  hoped,  however,  that  a  resort  to 
such  force  for  this  purpose  -which  by 
the  Act  aljove-mentioned  the  Presi- 
dent is  authorized  to  employ,  -will 
not  be  necessary  ;  but  that  they  will 
promptly  depart,  on  being  informed 
of  the  determination  of  the  execu- 
tive, not  to  permit  them  to  remain. 
Should  you  however  be  unfortunate- 
ly obliged  to  use  force  in  order  to  ac- 
complish the  object,  you  are  author- 
ized to  call  for  such  as  you  may 
deem  necessary  on  the  commanding 
officer  at  Fort  Snelling.  In  this 
event  you  will  act  with  as  much 
forbearance,  consideration,  and  deli- 
cacy as  may  bo  consistent  with  the 
prompt  and  faithful  performance  of 
the  duties  hereby  assigned  to  you, 
first  fully  and  mildly  explaining  the 
folly  of  resistance  on  their  part,  and 
your  own  want  of  discretion  in  the 
matter.  Very  respectfully,  your 
obedient  servant, 

J.  Pi.  Poinsett. 

Edward  James,  Esq., 

United    States    Marshal    for   the 
Territory  of  Wiskonsan,  Peru." 


460  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

During  the  summer  of  1840,  a  tragic  and  melancholy 
occurrence  took  place  on  the  plains  of  Minnesota.  On 
the  sixth  of  June,  Thomas  Simpson,  the  youthful, 
educated,  and  adventurous  explorer,  who  had  disco- 
vered and  named  Victoria  Land,  in  the  Arctic  Regions, 
left  Fort  Garry,  in  the  Red  River  settlement,  to  visit 
England,  by  way  of  the  traders'  route  through  Minne- 
sota. He  left  the  settlement  with  quite  a  number,  but 
anxious  to  behold  Great  Britain,  from  which  he  had 
been  absent  for  years,  they  travelled  too  slow,  and  he 
moved  on  in  advance  with  a  Canadian,  two  half-breeds, 
and  a  lad,  the  son  of  one  of  the  latter. 

His  movements  were  those  of  one  whose  mmd  was 
excited,  and  in  two  days  he  had  advanced  one  hundred 
miles.  He  then  complained  of  sickness,  and  said  he 
would  never  recover ;  and  when  told  that  there  was  a 
physician  at  the  mission-house  of  Lac  qui  Parle,  he 
replied  "  that  he  did  not  wish  a  doctor."  At  his  urgent 
solicitation,  his  guides  turned  back  on  the  fourteenth  of 
June,  and  an  hour  and  a  half  after  the  setting  of  the 
sun,  they  encamped  near  Turtle  river.  While  two  of 
the  men  and  the  lad  were  busy  in  raising  the  tent,  one  of 
them,  named  Bird,  was  shot,  and  instantly  died,  and  on 
turning  around,  the  others  saw  Simpson  fire  at  a  half- 
breed,  named  Legros,  father  of  the  boy,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  he  expired.  The  boy  and  sur^dving  guide  ran 
off,  when  Simpson  called  out  that  their  lives  were  safe, 
and  that  he  had  shot  the  others  because  they  intended 
to  murder  him  on  that  night,  and  take  the  papers  on 
his  recent  Arctic  explorations. 

Before  Legros  died,  he  called  his  son  and  kissed  him. 
Bruce,  the  remaining  guide,  and  lad,  that  night  mounted 
their  horses,  and  proceeded  toward  the  main  camp  that 


INSANITY  AND  SUICIDE  OF  THOMAS  SIMPSON.  461 

they  had  left  a  few  days  before.  Relating  their  strange 
story,  five  accompanied  them  to  the  scene  of  the  disaster. 
As  they  approached  the  cart  the  next  day,  on  their  re- 
turn, a  shot  was  fired,  as  they  at  first  supposed  at  their 
party.  Drawing  nigh  with  great  caution,  crawling 
through  the  grass  on  their  stomachs,  they  discovered 
Mr.  Simpson  stretched  out,  with  one  leg  across  the 
other,  the  butt  end  of  his  gun  between  his  legs,  the 
right  hand  with  the  glove  off  directed  to  the  trigger, 
all  the  head  above  the  nose  blown  off,  and  his  night- 
cap some  yards  distant  with  a  bullet  hole  in  it,  and 
some  of  his  hair  attached.  Since  Bruce  and  the  son 
of  Legros  left  the  night  before,  the  body  of  one  of  the 
guides  had  been  covered  with  the  tent,  and  the  poles 
laid  on  the  top,  and  the  body  of  the  other  had  been 
covered  with  a  blanket,  and  a  pillow  placed  beneath 
the  head.  From  the  beaten  path  it  was  supposed  that 
he  had  passed  the  whole  night  in  walking  between 
these  two  dead  bodies.  It  was  a  tragic  scene.  The 
moon  that  night  shone  brightly.  The  faithful  dog  of 
one  of  the  party  remained  watching,  and  Simpson,  with 
his  over-tasked  mind,  gibbered  over  the  corpses,  and 
wrapped  them  up,  filled  with  some  strange  fancy. 

On  the  fifteenth  of  June,  Simpson,  only  thirty-two 
years  of  age,  and  his  two  guides,  were  wrapped  up  in 
the  same  winding-sheet,  the  cover  of  the  tent,  and  de- 
posited in  the  same  grave.  The  news  of  this  tragedy 
did  not  reach  Red  river  until  the  party  returned  from 
Fort  Snelling,  in  the  month  of  October.  A  medical 
gentleman  with  some  men  then  proceeded  to  the  grave, 
and  disinterring  the  bodies,  made  a  post  mortem  exami- 
nation,   which   corresponded   with   the    deposition   of 


462  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

Bruce,  as  given  before  Mr.  Sibley  at  Mendota  in  July. 
His  body  was  conveyed  to  Red  river,  and  there  re-in- 
terred.^ 

The  Dahkotahs  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Lakes 
Harriet  and  Calhoun,  through  fear  of  their  enemies, 
after  the  troubles  of  1839,  began  to  reside  on  the 
banks  of  the  Minnesota,  near  Oak  Grove. 

On  the  seventeenth  of  June,  1840,  four  Ojibways  who 
had  secreted  themselves  about  two  miles  below  Mendota, 
on  the  Mississippi,  killed  and  scalped  a  Dahkotah  man 
and  woman. 

Joseph  R.  Brown,  who  since  1838  had  lived  at  Chan 
Wakan,  on  the  west  side  of  Grey  Cloud  Island,  this 
year  made  a  claim  near  the  upper  end  of  the  city  of 
Stillwater,  which  he  called  Dahkotah,  and  was  the  first 
to  raft  lumber  down  the  St.  Croix,  as  well  as  the  first 
to  represent  the  citizens  of  the  valley  in  the  legislature 
of  Wisconsin. 

On  the  second  of  September,  of  this  year,  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Riggs,  of  the  Lac  qui  Parle  mission,  accompanied 
by  the  mission  farmer,  Mr,  Huggens,  made  a  tour  to  the 
Missouri,  in  company  with  a  party  of  Indians  on  a 
buffalo  hunt.^ 

Until  the  year  1841,  the  jurisdiction  of  Crawford 
county,  Wisconsin,  extended  over  the  delta  of  country 
between  the  St.  Croix  and  Mississippi.  Josej)h  R. 
Brown,  having  been  elected  as  representative  of  the 

'  Alexander  Simpson,  in  "  Life  who  was  a  justice  of  the  peace,  and 
ajid  Travels  of  T.  Simpson,"  Bentley,  examined  the  eye-witnesses,  thinks 
London,  1845,  conveys  the  impres-  he  became  deranged,  and  shot  his 
sion  that  he  was  murdered  by  the  guides  and  himself, 
half-breeds.  Ballantyne,  in  "  Hud-  ^  An  interesting  account  of  this 
son's  Bay,"  hiis  the  same  opinion,  but  journey  is  published  in  the  Mission- 
Rosa,   in    "  Bed  River   Settlemeni,"  ary  Herald,  Boston,  1841. 


DESCRIPTION  OF  LAKE  POKEGUMA.  463 

count}^,  in  the  territorial  legislature  of  Wisconsin,  suc- 
ceeded in  obtaining  the  passage  of  an  act  on  November 
twentieth,  1841,  organizing  the  county  of  St.  Croix, 
with  Dahkotah  designated  as  the  county  seat. 

At  the  time  prescribed  for  holding  a  court  in  the  new 
county,  it  is  said  that  the  judge  of  the  district  arrived, 
and  to  his  surprise,  found  a  claim  cabin  occupied  by  a 
Frenchman.  Speedily  retreating,  he  never  came  again, 
and  judicial  proceedings  for  St.  Croix  county  ended  for 
several  years. 

After  the  Ojibway  slaughter  of  1839,  the  missionaries 
removed  from  Lake  Harriet  to  the  stone  building  above 
Fort  Snelling,  now  known  as  the  St.  Louis  House.  Early 
in  the  spring  of  1841,  in  a  thicket  in  the  vicinity,  three 
Ojibway  warriors  lay  w^atching  for  scalps.  At  length 
Kaibokah,  a  Dahkotah  chief,  with  his  son,  and  another 
man,  passed.  The  chief  and  his  son  were  both  shot,  and 
their  foe  escaped  in  a  canoe  to  the  east  bank  of  the 
Mississippi.     For  this  act  retaliation  soon  took  place. 

Pokeguma  is  one  of  the  "  Mille  Lacs,"  or  thousand 
beautiful  lakes  for  which  Minnesota  is  remarkable.  It 
is  a]jout  four  or  five  miles  in  extent,  and  a  mile  or 
more  in  width.  Its  shores  are  strewn  with  boulders 
that  in  a  past  geologic  age  have  been  brought  by  some 
mighty  impetus  from  the  icy  north.  Down  to  the 
water's  edge  grow  the  tall  pines,  through  which,  for 
many  years,  the  deer  have  bounded,  and  the  winds 
sighed  mournfully,  as  they  wafted  away  to  distant  lands 
the  shriek  of  many  Dahkotah  or  Ojibway  mothers, 
caused  by  the  slaughter  of  their  children. 

This  lake  is  situated  on  Snake  river,  about  twenty 
miles  above  the  junction  i)f  that  stream  with  the  St. 
Croix.     Though  as  late  as  the  year  1700,  the  Dahko- 


464  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

tabs  resided  in  this  vicinity,  for  a  long  period  it  has 
been  the  abode  of  their  enemies,  the  Ojibways. 

In  the  year  1836,  missionaries  of  the  American 
Board  of  Foreign  Missions  connected  with  the  Congre- 
gational and  Presbyterian  denominations,  came  to  re- 
side among  the  Ojibways  of  Pokeguma,  to  promote  their 
temporal  and  spiritual  welfare.  Their  mission-house 
was  built  on  the  east  side  of  the  lake ;  but  the  Indian 
village  was  on  an  island  not  far  from  the  shore.  In  a 
few  years,  several  Indian  famihes,  among  others  that 
of  the  chief,  were  induced  to  build  log  houses  around 
the  mission.  The  missionaries  felt,  to  use  the  language 
of  one  of  them,  that  "  the  motives  of  the  gospel  had  no 
more  influence  over  the  Indian,  in  themselves  consid- 
ered, than  over  the  deer  that  he  follows  in  the  chase." 
They  therefore  first  encouraged  the  Indian  to  work,  and 
always  purchased  of  him  his  spare  provisions. 

By  aiding  them  in  this  way,  many  had  become 
quite  industrious.  In  a  letter  written  in  1837,  we  find 
the  following  :  "  The  young  women  and  girls  now  make, 
mend,  wash,  and  iron  after  our  manner.  The  men 
have  learned  to  build  log  houses,  drive  team,  plough, 
hoe,  and  handle  an  American  axe  with  some  skill  in 
cutting  large  trees,  the  size  of  which,  two  years  ago, 
would  have  afforded  them  a  sufficient  reason  why  they 
should  not  meddle  with  them." 

On  May  fifteenth,  1841,  two  young  men  had  gone, 
by  order  of  Mr.  Russell,  now  of  Sauk  Rapids,  then  In- 
dian farmer  at  Pokeguma,  to  the  Falls  of  St.  Croix, 
after  a  load  of  provisions.  On  the  next  day,  which  was 
Sunday,  the  news  arrived  there,  that  a  Dahkotah  war 
party,  headed  by  Little  Crow,  of  the  Kaposia  band, 
whose  face  is  so  familiar  to  the  older  citizens  of  St. 


BATTLE  OF  LAKE  POKEGUMA.  465 

Paul,  was  on  the  way  to  their  village.  Immediately 
they  started  back  on  foot  to  give  the  alarm  to  their 
relatives  and  friends. 

They  had  hardly  left  the  Falls,  on  their  return,  be- 
fore they  saw  a  party  of  Dahkotahs,  stripped  and  be- 
daubed with  Vermillion,  and  preparing  themselves  for 
war.  The  sentinel  of  the  enemy  had  not  noticed  the 
approach  of  the  young  men.  A  few  yards  in  front  of 
the  Ojibway  youth  sat  two  of  the  sons  of  Little  Crow, 
behind  a  log,  exulting,  no  doubt,  in  anticipation  of  the 
scalps  in  reserve  for  them  at  the  lake.  In  the  twink- 
ling of  an  eye,  these  two  young  Ojibways  raised  their 
guns,  fired,  and  killed  both  of  the  chief's  sons.  The 
sentinel,  who  had  by  his  carelessness  allowed  them  to 
pass,  was  a  third  son.  The  discharge  of  the  guns  re- 
vealed to  him  that  an  enemy  was  near,  and  as  the  Ojil> 
ways  were  retreating,  he  fired,  and  mortally  wounded 
one  of  the  tw.\ 

Fiendish  was  the  rage  of  the  Dahkotahs  at  this 
disastrous  surprise.  According  to  custom,  the  corpses 
of  the  chief's  sons  were  dressed,  and  then  set  up  with 
their  faces  towards  the  country  of  their  ancient  enemies. 
The  wounded  Ojibway  was  horribly  mangled  by  the 
infuriated  party,  and  his  limbs  strewn  about  in  every 
direction.  His  scalped  head  was  placed  in  a  kettle,  and 
suspended  in  front  of  the  two  Dahkotah  corpses,  in  the 
belief  that  it  would  be  gratifjdng  to  the  spirits  of  the 
deceased,  to  see  before  them  the  bloody  and  scalpless 
head  of  one  of  their  enemies. 

Little  Crow,  disheartened  by  the  loss  of  his  two 
boys,  returned  with  his  party  to  Kaposia.  But  other 
parties  were  in  the  field.  The  Dahkotahs  had  divided 
themselves  into  three  bands;  and  it  was  the  understand- 

30 


466  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

ing  that  one  party  was  first  to  attack  Pokeguma,  and 
then  retire.  After  the  Ojibwa^s  supposed  that  the 
attack  was  over,  the  second  party  was  to  commence 
their  fire,  and  after  they  had  ceased  to  fight,  the  third 
party  was  to  begin  to  slaughter. 

The  second  party  proceeded  as  far  as  the  mouth  of 
Snake  river,  but,  supposing  that  the  Ojibways  had  dis- 
covered them,  they  turned  back,  and  upon  their  arrival 
at  the  Falls  of  St.  Croix,  they  were  still  more  chagrined, 
by  hearing  of  the  death  of  the  sons  of  the  Kaposia 
chief. 

It  was  not  till  Friday,  the  twenty-first  of  May,  that 
the  death  of  one  of  the  young  Ojibways  sent  by  Mr. 
Russell,  to  the  Falls  of  St.  Croix,  Avas  known  at  Poke- 
guma.  The  murdered  youth  was  a  son  of  one  of  those 
families  who  had  renounced  heathenism,  and  whose 
parents  lived  on  the  lake  shore,  in  one  of  the  log  build- 
ings, by  the  mission-house.  The  intelligence  alarmed 
the  Ojibways  on  the  island  ojDposite  the  mission,  and  on 
Monday,  the  twenty-fourth,  three  young  men  left  in  a 
canoe  to  go  to  the  west  shore  of  the  lake,  and  from 
thence  to  Mille  Lac,  to  give  intelligence  to  the  Ojibways 
there,  of  the  skirmish  that  had  already  occurred.  They 
took  witji  them  two  Indian  girls,  about  twelve  years  of 
age,  who  were  pupils  of  the  mission  school,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  bringing  the  canoe  back  to  the  island.  Just  as 
the  three  were  landmg,  twenty  or  thirty  Dahkotah  war- 
riors, with  a  war  whoop  emerged  from  their  conceal- 
ment behind  the  trees,  and  fired  into  the  canoe.  The 
young  men  instantly  sprang  into  the  water,  which  was 
shallow,  returned  the  fire,  and  ran  into  the  woods,  esca- 
ping without  material  injury. 

The  little  girls,  in  their  fright,  waded  into  the  lake ; 


BATTLE  OF  LAKE  POKEGUMA.  467 

and  as  in  Indian  warfare  it  is  as  noble  to  kill  an  infant 
as  an  adult,  a  delicate  woman  as  a  strong  man,  the 
Dahkotah  braves,  with  their  spears  and  war  clubs,  rushed 
into  the  water  after  the  children  and  killed  them. 
Their  parents  upon  the  island,  heard  the  death  cries  of 
their  children ;  and  for  a  time  the  scene  was  one  of  the 
wildest  confusion.  Some  of  the  Indians  around  the 
mission-house  jumped  into  their  canoes  and  gained  the 
island.  Others  went  into  some  fortified  log  huts. 
The  attack  upon  the  canoe,  it  was  afterwards  learned, 
was  premature.  The  party  upon  that  side  of  the  lake 
were  ordered  not  to  fire,  until  the  party  stationed  in  the 
woods  near  the  mission  commenced. 

There  were  in  all  one  hundred  and  eleven  Dahkotah 
warriors,  and  the  fight  was  in  the  vicinity  of  the  mis- 
sion-house, and  the  Ojibways  mostly  engaged  in  it  were 
those  who  had  been  under  religious  instruction.  The 
rest  were  upon  the  island.  During  the  engagement,  an 
incident  occurred,  as  worthy  of  note  as  some  of  those 
in  Grecian  histor}^ 

The  fathers  of  the  murdered  girls,  burning  for  re- 
venge, left  the  island  in  a  canoe,  and  drawing  it  up  on 
the  shore,  hid  behind  it,  and  fired  upon  the  Dahkotahs 
and  killed  one.  The  Dahkotahs  advancing  upon  them, 
they  were  obliged  to  escape.  The  canoe  was  now 
launched.  One  lay  on  his  back  in  the  bottom ;  the 
other  plunged  into  the  water,  and,  holding  the  canoe  with 
one  hand,  and  swimming  with  the  other,  he  towed  liis 
friend  out  of  danger.  The  Dahkotahs,  infuriated  at 
their  escape,  fired  volley  after  volley  at  the  swimmer, 
but  he  escaped  the  balls  by  putting  his  head  under 
water  whenever  he  saw  them  take  aim,  and  waiting  till 


468  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

he  heard  the  discharge,  when  he  would  look  up  and 
breathe. 

After  a  fight  of  two  hours,  the  Dahkotahs  retreated 
with  a  loss  of  two  men.  At  the  request  of  the  parents, 
Mr.  E.  F.  Ely,  now  of  Oneota,  from  whose  notes  the 
writer  has  obtained  these  facts,  being  at  that  time  a 
teaclier  at  the  mission,  went  across  the  lake,  with  two 
of  his  friends,  to  gather  the  remains  of  his  murdered 
pupils.  He  found  the  corpses  on  the  shore.  The 
heads  cut  off  and  scaljDcd,  with  a  tomahawk  buried  in 
the  brains  of  each,  were  set  up  in  the  sand  near  the 
bodies.  The  bodies  were  pierced  in  the  breast,  and  the 
right  arm  of  one  was  taken  away.  Removing  the 
tomahawks,  the  bodies  were  brought  back  to  the  island, 
and  in  the  afternoon  were  buried  in  accordance  with 
the  simple  but  solemn  rites  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  by 
members  of  the  mission. 

It  is  usual  for  Indians  to  leave  their  murdered  on 
or  near  the  battle-field,  with  their  faces  looking  towards 
the  enemy's  country;  and  on  Wednesday  the  Ojibways 
started  out  in  search  of  the  Dahkotahs  that  had  been 
killed.  By  following  the  trail,  they  soon  found  the  two 
bodies,  and  scalped  them.  One  of  the  heads  was  also 
cut  off,  and  brought  to  the  island,  to  adorn  the  graves 
of  the  little  girls.  To  a  North-western  savage,  such  a 
head-stone  at  a  daughter's  grave  is  more  gratifying  than 
one  of  sculptured  Italian  marble.  Strips  of  flesh  were 
fastened  to  the  trees.  A  breast  was  also  taken,  and 
cooked  and  eaten  by  the  braves  to  express  their  hatred 
to  the  Dahkotahs. 

The  mother  and  wife  of  the  young  man  who  had 
been  killed  by  Little  Crow's  third  son,  were  each  pre- 
sented with  a  hand.    These  women  had  been  accustomed 


ATTACK  BELOW  ST.  PAUL.  469 

to  attend  preaching  at  the  mission-house,  and  knew  the 
principles  of  the  Prince  of  Peace.  Though  they  had, 
in  1839,  lost  many  relatives  by  an  attack  from  the  Dali- 
kotahs,  on  Rum  river,  they  engaged  in  no  savage  orgies, 
but,  withdrawing  to  their  wigwam,  they  placed  the 
hands  of  their  foes  upon  their  knees,  gazed  in  silence, 
then  wrapped  them  in  white  muslin  and  interred  them. 
Such  is  one  of  the  many  similar  scenes  that  have  occurred 
in  our  own  territory  within  ten  years.  Governor  Ram- 
sey, the  president  of  the  Historical  Society,  in  his 
address  of  1851,  well  remarked  that  the  region  between 
the  Falls  of  St.  Croix  and  Mille  Lac,  was  a  "Gol- 
gotha"— a  place  of  skulls. 

The  sequel  to  this  story  is  soon  told.  The  Indians 
of  Pokeguma,  after  the  fight,  deserted  their  village,  and 
went  to  reside  with  their  countrymen  near  Lake  Supe- 
rior. 

In  July  of  the  following  year,  1842,  a  war  party  was 
formed  at  Fond  du  Lac,  about  forty  in  number,  and  pro- 
ceeded towards  the  Dahkotah  country.  When  they 
reached  Kettle  river  they  were  joined  by  the  Ojibways 
of  St.  Croix  and  Mille  Lac,  and  thus  numbered  about 
one  hundred  warriors.  Sneaking,  as  none  but  Indians 
can,  they  arrived  unnoticed  at  the  httle  settlement  below 
St.  Paul,  commonly  called  "  Pig's  Eye,"  which  is  oppo- 
site Kaposia,  or  Little  Crow's  village.  Finding  an 
Indian  woman  at  work  in  the  garden  of  her  husband,  a 
Canadian,  by  the  name  of  Gamelle,  they  killed  her; 
also  another  woman,  with  her  infant,  whose  head  was 
cut  off.  The  Dahkotahs,  on  the  opposite  side,  were 
mostly  intoxicated ;  and.  Hying  across  in  their  canoes 
but  half  prepared,  they  were  worsted  in  the  encounter. 
They  lost  thirteen  warriors,  and  one  of  their  number. 


470  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

known  as  the  Dancer,  the  Ojibways  are  said  to  have 
skinned. 

The  year  of  the  Pokeguma  battle,  Governor  Doty 
visited  the  Dahkotahs,  and  negotiated  a  treaty  with  the 
several  bands  at  Wapashaw,  Mendota,  and  Traverse  des 
Sioux,  by  which  the  country  west  of  the  Mississippi 
would  have  been  ceded,  but  the  United  States  Senate  did 
not  ratify  it. 

During  the  winter  of  1842-3,  Mr.  Ayer  visited  Red 
Lake,  whose  waters  flow  into  the  Red  River  of  the 
North,  with  the  view  of  ascertaining  the  practicability 
of  missionary  operations  there.  The  chief  received 
the  i^roposition  with  favour,  and  thus  addressed  his 
warriors : — 

"  My  braves  !  I  should  be  ashamed  to  suffer  one  who 
has  come  so  far  to  visit  us  to  turn  back  again.  We 
should  not  turn  him  away.  We  would  not  treat  our 
trader  in  this  ^vay ;  we  should  run  to  meet  him.  My 
braves !  you  have  listened  to  what  he  said.  I  believe 
what  he  says.  Let  us  try  him  four  years,  and  if  we  do 
not  find  him  true,  then  we  will  send  him  away." 

On  the  17th  of  April  he  made  a  second  visit,  accom- 
panied by  Mr.  Spencer,  and  Mr.  E.  F.  Ely.  The  latter 
two  immediately  commenced  assisting  the  Indians  in 
their  ploughing  and  in  preparations  for  putting  in  a 
crop.  The  months  of  February  and  March,  1843,  were 
exceedingly  severe,  the  thermometer  ranging  lower  than 
ever  before  recorded.  The  snow  had  fallen  to  such 
depths  that  the  snow  shoe  was  not  very  serviceable,  and 
the  waters  were  so  troubled  by  high  winds  that  it  was 
difficult  for  the  Indians  to  spear  the  fish  through  the 
holes  cut  in  the  ice.  The  Dahkotahs  w^ere  brought  to 
the  verge  of  starvation,  some  bands  being  reduced  to 


SETTLEMENT  OF  STILLWATER.  471 

the  necessity  of  subsisting  on  a  syrup  made  of  hickory 
chii:)s,  or  boiled  bitter  sweet.  The  United  States 
government,  in  view  of  their  peculiar  necessities, 
granted  them  twenty-five  hundred  dollars  worth  of  pro- 
visions, powder,  and  clothing. 

During  the  summer  the  Rev.  Mr.  Riggs,  on  his  return 
from  a  visit  to  Ohio,  commenced  a  mission  station  at 
Traverse  des  Sioux.  His  family  and  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Hopkins  and  wife  proceeded  to  Lac  qui  Parle.  While 
drawing  to  the  close  of  their  last  day's  journey,  three 
young  Dahkotahs,  who  had  been  on  a  visit  to  Ohio, 
hurried  on  in  advance.  Shortly  two  Indian  lads  said 
that,  while  drinking  at  a  little  stream,  they  had  heard 
the  report  of  fire-arms,  and  had  seen  Ojibways.  The 
intelligence  was  confirmed  by  the  return  of  one  of  the 
three  who  had  gone  ahead,  who  said  that  he  had  con- 
versed with  the  Ojibways,  and  had  been  saved  by  his 
white  man's  dress.  In  a  little  while  the  travellers 
beheld  on  an  eminence  fifteen  or  twenty  Ojibway  w^ar- 
riors,  who  retreated  as  they  approached.  Crossing  the 
Maya-wakan,  they  found  the  two  corpses  of  the  young 
Dahkotahs.  Taking  the  wagon  cover  for  a  winding- 
sheet,  the  missionaries  wrapped  one  of  the  bodies  and 
proceeded  toward  Lac  qui  Parle.  The  Indians  there 
having  gained  intelligence  of  the  attack,  rushed  forth 
to  meet  them,  and  were  enraged  because  the  whites  bad 
not  pursued  the  Ojibways. 

On  the  tenth  of  October,  1843,  was  commenced  a 
settlement  which  has  become  the  town  of  Stillwater. 
The  names  of  the  proprietors  were  John  McKusick 
from  j\Iaine,  Calvin  Leach  from  Vermont,  Elam  Greeley 
Irom  Maine,  and  Elias  McKean  from  Pennsylvania. 
They  immediately  commenced  the  erection  of  a  saw- 


472  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

mill,  and  made  improvements  which  fixed  the  point  as 
the  centre  of  the  lumbering  interests  of  the  valley  of 
the  St.  Croix. 

On  the  eleventh  of  August,  1844,  Captain  Allen,  with 
fifty  United  States  dragoons,  left  Fort  Des  Moines,  Iowa, 
and  passed  through  the  south-western  portion  of  Minne- 
sota; but,  the  guide  having  left  them  soon  after  they 
commenced  their  march,  they  wandered  through  the 
country  in  great  uncertainty.  After  floundering  through 
marshes,  they  came,  as  they  supposed,  to  a  tributary  of 
the  Minnesota;  and,  on  the  tenth  of  September,  about 
latitude  45°,  they  found  the  Big  Sioux,  and  there,  for 
the  first  time  since  they  started,  met  a  party  of  Dah- 
kotahs. 

B.  Gervais,  during  this  year,  moved  to  a  point  five 
miles  north-east  of  St.  Paul,  known  as  Little  Canada, 
and  erected  the  first  mill  in  Minnesota  beyond  the  mili- 
tary reservation  of  Fort  Snelling. 

In  the  summer  of  this  year,  a  party  of  drovers,  on 
their  way  from  the  South  to  Fort  Snelling  with  cattle, 
lost  their  way,  and  were  captured  and  maltreated  by 
the  Sissetoan  Dahkotahs.  As  soon  as  the  intelligence 
reached  the  fort,  troops  were  despatched  in  pursuit  of 
the  offenders,  who  were  captured,  but  subsequently 
escaped. 

The  United  States,  having  learned  that  the  half-breed 
hunters  of  Red  River  settlement  were  killing  thousands 
of  buffalo  annually  in  Minnesota,  sent  a  military  expe- 
dition to  the  valley  of  the  Red  river,  under  the  charge 
of  Captain  Sumner  of  the  dragoons.  They  left  Fort 
Atkinson,  Iowa,  on  the  third  of  June,  1845,  and,  march- 
ing through  the  interior,  reached  Traverse  des  Sioux  on 
the  twenty-fifth.    Proceeding  to  Lac  qui  Parle,  a  council 


SUMNER  ARRESTS  MURDERERS  OF  A  DROVER.     473 

was  held  with  the  Dahkotahs  of  that  vicinity.  Although 
they  had  difficulty  with  the  half-breeds  of  the  North,  in 
consequence  of  hunting  buffalo  in  their  country,  they 
did  not  wish  the  United  States  to  interfere.  On  the 
fifth  of  July,  another  council  was  held  at  Big  Stone 
Lake,  but  it  was  unsatisfactory. 

The  next  day  they  marched  northward,  and,  on  the 
eighth,  while  Captain  Sumner  was  holding  an  informal 
council  in  the  saddle,  three  of  the  murderers  of  the 
drover  (Watson)  and  party,  who  had  escaped  the  pre- 
vious autumn  from  Colonel  Wilson's  detachment  of  the 
First  Infantry,  boldly  walked  into  council.  Immediately 
they  were  recognised  and  arrested.  The  excitement  for 
a  few  moments  was  intense,  but  Sumner  told  them  that 
it  was  useless  to  talk  at  that  time,  as  he  would  be  there 
again  in  about  a  month.  The  prisoners  then  accom- 
panied the  troops  to  Minne  Wakan '  Lake,  about  the  48th 
degree  of  latitude,  which  was  reached  on  the  eighteenth. 
In  this  vicinity  they  struck  the  trail  of  the  hunters,  and 
soon  met  a  deputation  of  them  with  an  interpreter.  The 
next  morning  Captain  Sumner  proceeded  to  their  camp, 
which  was  composed  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  men. 
In  his  interview  with  them  he  found  them  frank  and 
sensible.  They  told  him  that  tHey  had  been  trained  to 
the  hunter's  life  from  childhood,  and  knew  no  other 
occupation,  and  that  the  buffalo  was  their  only  subsist- 
ence, and  they  desired  to  know  whether  they  would  be 
received  as  citizens,  if  they  moved  within  the  American 
lines.  The  officer  told  them  that  he  was  not  authorized 
to  express  any  opinion  on  such  points,  but  advised  them 
to  write  a  letter  to  Washington. 

*  Devil's  Lake. 


474 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


The  expedition  returned  to  Traverse  des  Sioux  on 
the  seventh  of  August,  and  was  surprised  at  seeing  two 
fine  horses,  that  belonged  to  the  officers  of  Captain 
Allen's  company,  and  some  mules,  among  the  Indians. 
The  thieves  were  arrested  and  sent  down  to  Fort 
Snelling. 

In  the  spring  of  1845,  one  of  Good  Road's  band  of 
Dahkotahs  was  killed  by  Pillagers  at  Otter  Tail  Lake. 
Not  long  after,  a  party  of  Ojibways  came  to  Fort  Snel- 
ling, and  to  protect  them  from  the  exasperated  Dahko- 
tahs, Captain  Backus  quartered  them  wdthin  the  walls. 

In  the  month  of  March,  1846,  Joseph  Renville,  of 
Lac  qui  Parle,  whose  name  one  of  the  counties  of  the 
State  bears,  died.  Previous  to  the  ratification  of  the 
treaty  of  1837,  he  was,  perhaps,  the  most  prominent 
citizen  in  Minnesota.^ 


^  Joseph  Renville  was  of  mised 
descent,  and  his  history  forms  a  link 
between  the  past  and  the  present 
history  of  JMinnesota.  His  father 
was  a  French  trader  of  much  repu- 
tation. His  mother  was  a  Dahkotah, 
connected  with  some  of  the  principal 
men  of  the  Kaposia  band.  He  was 
born  just  below  the  town  of  St.  Paul, 
about  the  year  1779,  during  the  war 
of  the  American  Revolution.  At 
that  time,  there  was  probably  not  a 
white  family  residing  in  the  whole 
of  that  vast  territory  that  now  com- 
prises Northern  Illinois,  Wisconsin, 
Iowa,  and  Minnesota,  excepting  offi- 
cers of  the  British  army. 

Accustomed  to  see  few  European 
countenances,  in  sports,  habits,  and 
feelings  he  was  a  full  Dahkotah 
youth.  As  often  happens,  his  mo- 
ther deserted  her  husband,  and  went 


to  live  with  one  of  her  own  blood. 
The  father,  noticing  the  activity  of 
his  son's  mind,  took  him  to  Canada 
before  he  was  ten  years  of  age,  and 
placed  him  under  the  tuition  of  a 
priest  of  Rome.  His  instructor  ap- 
pears to  have  been  both  a  kind  and 
good  man,  and  from  him  he  received 
a  slight  knowledge  of  the  French 
language,  and  the  elements  of  the 
Christian  religion.  Before  he  at- 
tained to  manhood,  he  was  brought 
back  to  the  Dahkotah  land,  and  was 
called  to  mourn  the  death  of  his 
father. 

At  that  time,  there  was  a  British 
officer  by  the  name  of  Dickson,  who 
lived  in  what  is  now  Minnesota,  and 
the  head  of  an  English  Fur  Com- 
pany. Knowing  that  young  Ren- 
ville was  energetic,  he  employed 
him  as  a  "  coureur  des  bois."    While 


ONE-EYED  CANADIAN,  EARLY  SETTLER  AT  ST.  PAUL.      475 


The  year  that  the  Dahkotahs  ceded  the  land  east  of 
the  Mississippi,  a  Canadian  Frenchman,  by  the  name 
of  Parant,  the  ideal  of  an  Indian  whiskey-seller,  erected 


a  mere  stripling,  he  had  guided  his 
canoe  from  the  Falls  of  Pokeguma 
to  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  and  fol- 
lowed the  trails  from  Mendota  to  the 
Missouri.  lie  knew  by  heart  the 
legends  of  Winona,  and  Ampato  Sa- 
pawin,  and  Hogam-wanke-kin.  He 
had  distinguished  himself  as  a  brave, 
and  also  became  identified  with  the 
Dahkotahs  more  fully  by  following 
in  the  footsteps  of  his  father  and 
purchasing  a  wife  of  that  nation. 

In  1797,  he  wintered,  in  company 
with  a  Mr.  Perlier,  near  Sauk  Ra- 
pids. The  late  General  Pike  was 
introduced  to  him  at  Prairie  du 
Chien,  and  was  conducted  by  him 
to  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony.  This 
officer  was  pleased  with  him,  and 
recommended  him  for  the  post  of 
United  States  Interpreter.  In  a  let- 
ter to  General  Wilkinson,  written  at 
Mendota,  September  ninth,  1805,  he 
says :  "  I  beg  leave  to  recommend 
for  that  appointment,  a  Mr.  Joseph 
Renville,  who  has  served  as  inter- 
preter for  the  Sioux  last  spring  at 
the  Illinois,  and  who  has  gratuitous- 
ly and  willingly  served  as  my  inter- 
preter in  all  my  conferences  with 
the  Sioux.  He  is  a  man  respected 
by  the  Indians,  and  I  believe  an 
honest  one." 

At  the  breaking  out  of  the  last 
war  with  Great  Britain,  Col.  Dickson 
was  employed  by  that  government, 
to  hire  the  warlike  tribes  of  the 
North-west  to  fight  against  the 
United  States.  Renville  received 
from  him,  the  appointment  and  rank 


of  captain  in  the  British  army,  and 
with  warriors  from  the  Wapashaw, 
Kaposia,  and  other  bands  of  Dahko- 
tahs, marched  to  the  American  fron- 
tier. 

In  1822  he  became  a  member  of 
the  Columbia  Fur  Company.  Shortly 
after,  the  American  Fur  Company 
of  New  York,  of  which  John  Jacob 
Astor  was  one  of  the  directors,  not 
wishing  any  rivals  in  the  trade,  pur- 
chased their  posts,  and  good-will, 
and  retained  the  "coureurs  des 
bois."  Under  this  new  arrangement, 
Renville  removed  to  Lac  qui  Parle, 
and  erected  a  trading-house,  and 
here  he  resided  until  the  end  of  his 
days. 

Living  as  he  had  done,  for  more 
than  a  half  century  among  the 
Dahkotahs,  over  whom  he  exercised 
the  most  unbounded  control,  it  is 
not  surprising  that  in  his  advanced 
age  he  sometimes  exhibited  a  domi- 
neering disposition.  As  long  as  Min- 
nesota exists,  he  should  be  known 
as  one  given  to  hospitality.  He 
invariably  showed  himself  to  be  a 
friend  to  the  Indian,  the  traveller, 
and  the  missionary.  Aware  of  the 
improvidence  of  his  mother's  race, 
he  used  his  influence  towards  the 
raising  of  grain.  lie  was  instru- 
mental in  having  the  first  seed  corn 
planted  on  the  Upper  Minnesota. 
An  Indian  never  left  his  house 
hungry,  and  they  delighted  to  do 
him  honour.  He  was  a  friend  to  the 
traveller.  His  conversation  was  in- 
telligent, and  he  constantly  comma- 


47G 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


a  shanty  at  what  is  now  the  principal  steamboat  land- 
ing in  St.  Paul.  Ignorant  and  overbearing,  he  loved 
money  more  than  his  soul.     Destitute  of  one  eye,  and 


nicated  facts  that  were  worthy  of  re- 
cord. His  post  obtained  a  reputation 
among  explorers,  and  their  hist 
day's  journey  to  it  was  generally  a 
quick  march,  for  they  felt  sure  of  a 
warm  welcome.  His  son  was  the 
interpreter  of  Nicollet,  that  worthy 
man  of  science  who  explored  this 
country  in  connection  with  Fremont. 
This  gentlemen,  in  his  report  to 
Congress,  pays  the  following  tribute 
to  the  father  and  son : — 

"  I  may  stop  a  while  to  say,  that 
the  residence  of  the  Renville  family, 
for  a  number  of  years  back,  has 
afforded  the  only  retreat  to  travellers 
to  be  found  between  St.  Peter's  and 
the  British  posts,  a  distance  of  seven 
hundred  miles.  The  liberal  and 
untiring  hospitality  dispensed  by 
this  respectable  family,  the  great 
influence  exercised  by  it  over  the 
Indians  of  this  country  in  the  main- 
tenance of  peace  and  the  protection 
of  travellers,  would  demand,  besides 
our  gratitude,  some  especial  acknow- 
ledgment of  the  United  States,  and 
also  from  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany." 

The  only  traveller  that  has  ever 
given  any  testimony  opposed  to  this 
is  Featherstonhaugh,  a  dyspeptic  and 
growling  Englishman,  whose  book, 
published  in  London  in  1847,  and 
styled  a  '  Canoe  Voyage  up  the 
Minnay  Sotor,'  betrays  a  filthy  im- 
agination.    He  remarks : — 

"  On  reaching  the  fort,  Renville 
advanced  and  saluted  me,  but  not 
cordially.    He  was  a  dark,  Indian- 


looking  person,  showing  no  white 
blood,  short  in  his  stature,  with 
strong  features  and  coarse  black 
hair.  *****!  learnt  that 
Renville  entertained  a  company  of 
stout  Indians  to  the  number  of  fifty, 
in  a  skin  lodge  behind  his  house,  of 
extraordinary  dimensions,  whom  he 
calls  his  braves,  or  soldiers.  To 
these  men  he  confided  various  trusts, 
and  occasionally  sent  them  to  distant 
points  to  transact  his  business.  No 
doubt  he  was  a  very  intriguing  per- 
son, and  uncertain  in  his  attach- 
ments. Those  who  knew  him  inti- 
mately, supposed  him  inclined  to  the 
British  allegiance  although  he  pro- 
fesses great  attachment  to  the  Amer- 
ican government,  a  circumstance, 
however,  which  did  not  prevent  him 
from  being  under  the  surveillance 
of  the  garrison  at  Fort  Snelling." 

He  was  also  a  friend  to  the  Mis- 
sionary of  the  Cross.  Until  the  year 
1834,  no  minister  of  the  church, 
made  arrangements  to  devote  his 
life  to  the  spiritual  and  temporal 
welfare  of  the  Dahkotahs. 

The  Rev.  T.  S.  Williamson,  M.D., 
of  the  Presbytery  of  Chilicothe,  ar- 
rived at  Fort  Snelling  in  1834  ;  then 
returned  to  the  East,  and  in  1835 
came  back  with  assistant  mission- 
aries. Renville  warmly  welcomed 
him,  and  rendered  him  invaluable 
assistance  in  the  establishment  of 
the  missions.  Upon  the  arrival  of 
the  missionaries  at  Lac  qui  Parle, 
he  provided  them  with  a  temporary 
home.    He  acted  as  interpreter,  he 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  TERM  "PIG'S  EYE. 


477 


the  other  resembling  that  of  a  pig,  he  was  a  good  repre- 
sentative of  Caliban. 

In  the  year  1842,  some  one  writing  a  letter  in  his 


assisted  in  translating  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  removed  many  of  the  pre- 
judices of  the  Indians  against  the 
teachers  of  the  white  man's  religion. 
His  name  appears  in  connection 
with  several  Dahkotah  books.  Dr. 
Watts'  second  Catechism  for  child- 
ren, published  in  Boston,  in  1837, 
by  Crocker  &  Brewster,  was  partly 
translated  by  him. 

In  1839,  a  volume  of  extracts  from 
the  Old  Testament,  and  a  volume 
containing  the  Gospel  of  Mark,  was 
published  by  Kendell  &  Henry,  Cin- 
cinnati, the  translation  of  which  was 
given  orally  by  Mr.  Renville,  and 
penned  by  Dr.  Williamson.  Crocker 
&  Brewster,  in  1842,  published  Dah- 
kotah Dowanpi  Kin,  or  Dahkotah 
Hymns,  many  of  which  were  com- 
posed by  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
The  following  tribute  to  his  ability 
as  a  translator,  appeared  in  the  Mis- 
sionary Herald  of  1846,  published  at 
Boston  : — 

"  Mr.  Renville  was  a  remarkable 
man,  and  he  was  remarkable  for  the 
energy  with  which  he  pursued  such 
objects  as  he  deemed  of  primary  im- 
portance. His  power  of  observing 
and  remembering  facts,  and  also 
words  expressive  of  simple  ideas,  was 
extraordinary.  Though  in  his  latter 
years  he  could  read  a  little,  yet  in 
translating  he  seldom  took  a  book  in 
his  hand,  choosing  to  depend  on 
hearing  rather  than  sight,  and  I 
have  often  had  occasion  to  observe, 
that  after  hearing  a  long  and  unfa- 
miliar verse  read  from   the  Scrip- 


tures, he  would  immediately  render 
it  from  the  French  into  Dahkotah, 
two  languages  extremely  unlike  in 
their  idioms  and  ideas  of  the  words, 
and  repeat  it  over  two  or  three  words 
at  a  time,  so  as  to  give  full  opportu- 
nity to  write  it  down.  He  also  had 
a  remarkable  tact  in  discovering  the 
aim  of  a  speaker,  and  conveying  the 
intended  impression,  when  many  of 
the  ideas  and  words  were  such  as 
had  nothing  corresponding  to  them 
in  the  minds  and  language  of  the 
addressed.  These  qualities  fitted 
him  for  an  interpreter,  and  it  was 
generally  admitted  he  had  no  equal." 

It  would  be  improper  to  conclude 
this  article  without  some  remarks 
upon  the  religious  character  of  Ren- 
ville. Years  before  there  was  a 
clergyman  in  Minnesota,  he  took  his 
Indian  wife  to  Prairie  du  Chien,  and 
was  married  in  accordance  with 
Christian  rites  by  a  minister  of  the 
Roman  Church.  Before  he  became 
acquainted  with  missionaries,  he 
sent  for  a  large  folio  Bible  in  the 
French  language,  and  requested 
those  connected  with  him  in  the  fur 
trade  to  procure  for  him  a  clerk  who 
could  read  it.  This  Bible  was  pro- 
bably the  first  Bible  in  Minnesota, 
and  in  itself  valuable  for  its  anti- 
quity. It  was  printed  at  Geneva, 
in  1588,  and  had  a  Latin  preface  by 
John  Calvin,  the  great  Reformer. 

The  writer,  in  1853,  requested  Dr. 
Williamson,  of  the  Dahkotah  Mis- 
sion, to  procure  this  same  copy  for 
the  Historical  Society.     At  his  soli- 


478 


HISTORY  OF  MINxXESOTA. 


groggery,  for  the  want  of  a  more  euphonious  name, 
designated  the  place  as  "Pig's  Eye,"  referring  to  the 
pecuUar  appearance  of  the  whiskey-seller.     The  reply 


citation,  one  of  the  sons  of  the  late 
Mr.  Renville,  brought  it  to  the  Mis- 
sion House  at  Lac  qui  Parle,  to  be 
forwarded  to  St,  Paul.  Before  an 
opportunity  occurred,  the  Mission 
House,  with  all  of  its  contents,  was 
consumed  by  fire. 

After  the  commencement  of  the 
mission  at  Lac  qui  Parle,  his  wife 
•was  the  first  full  Dahkotah  that  join- 
ed the  Church  of  Christ,  of  whom  we 
have  any  record.  She  was  also  the 
first  Dahkotah  that  died  in  the 
Christian  faith.  Before  she  had 
ever  seen  a  teacher  of  the  religion 
of  Christ,  through  the  instruction 
of  her  husband  she  had  renounced 
the  gods  of  the  Dahkotahs.  The 
following  is  an  extract  from  a  trans- 
lation of  Mr.  Renville's  account  of 
his  wife's  death : — "  Now,  to-day, 
you  seem  very  much  exhausted,  and 
she  said  '  yes  ;  this  day,  now  God 
invites  me.  I  am  remembering 
Jesus  Christ  who  suffered  for  me, 
and  depending  on  him  alone.  To- 
day I  shall  stand  before  God,  and 
will  ^sk  him  for  mercy  for  you,  and 
for  all  my  children,  and  all  my 
kinsfolk." 

Afterwards,  when  all  her  children 
and  relatives  sat  round  her  weeping, 
she  said,  "  it  is  holy  day,  sing  and 
pray."  From  very  early  in  the 
morning,  she  w.as  speaking  of  God, 
and  telling  her  husband  what  to  do. 
Thus  she  died  "when  the  clock 
struck  two." 

Like  Nicodemus,  one  of  the  rulers 
of    Israel,   he  loved  to   inquire  in 


relation  to  spiritual  things.  Of 
independent  mind,  he  claimed  and 
exercised  the  right  of  private  judg- 
ment in  matters  of  faith. 

In  1841,  he  was  chosen  and  or- 
dained a  ruling  elder,  and  from 
that  time,  till  his  death,  discharged 
the  duties  of  his  ofiice  in  a  manner 
acceptable  and  profitable  both  to  the 
native  members  of  the  church  and 
the  mission. 

After  a  sickness  of  some  days,  in 
March,  1846,  his  strong  frame  began 
to  give  evidence  of  speedy  decay. 
He  was  aware  he  was  soon  to  take 
"  his  chamber  in  the  silent  halls  of 
death,"  but  he  know  "  in  whom  he 
had  believed,"  and  went, 

"  Not  like  the  quarry  slave,  at  eight 
Scourged  to  bis  dungeon;  but  sustained  and 

eoothed, 
Like  one  who  wraps  the  drapery  of  his  couch 
About  him,  and  lies  down  to  pleasant  dreams!" 

Dr.  Williamson  thus  narrates  the 
death-scene :  "  The  evening  before 
his  decease,  he  asked  me  what  be- 
came of  the  soul  immediately  after 
death?  I  reminded  him  of  our 
Saviour's  words  to  the  thief  on  the 
cross,  and  Paul's  desire  to  depart 
and  be  with  Christ.  He  said,  '  That 
is  sufficient,'  and  presently  added, 
'  I  have  great  hope  I  shall  be  saved 
through  grace.'  Next  morning  (Sun- 
day) about  eight  o'clock,  I  was  called 
to  see  him.  He  was  so  evidently  in 
the  agonies  of  death,  I  did  not  think 
of  attempting  to  do  anything  for  him. 
After  some  time,  his  breathing  be- 
coming easier,  he  was  asked  if  he 


FIRST  STORE  AT  ST.  PAUL. 


479 


to  the  letter  was  directed  in  good  faith  to  '•'  Pig's  Eye," 
and  was  received  in  due  time. 

In  1842,  the  late  Henry  Jackson,  of  Mahkahto, 
settled  at  the  same  spot,  and  erected  the  first  store  on 
the  height  just  above  the  lower  landing ;  and  shortly 


wished  to  hear  a  hymn.  He  replied, 
'  Yes.'  After  it  was  sung  he  said, 
'  It  is  very  good.'  As  he  reclined 
on  the  bed,  I  saw  a  sweet  serenity 
settling  on  his  countenance,  and  I 
thought  that  his  severest  struggle 
was  probably  past,  and  so  it  proved. 
The  clock  striking  ten,  he  looked  at  it 
and  intimated  that  it  was  time  for 
us  to  go  to  church.  As  we  were 
about  to  leave,  he  extended  his 
withered  hand.  After  we  left,  he 
spoke  some  words  of  exhortation  to 
his  family,  then  prayed,  and  before 
noon  calmly  and  quietly  yielded  up 
his  spirit." 

Sixty-seven  years  passed  by,  before 
he  closed  his  eyes  upon  the  world. 
The  citizens  of  Kentucky  delight  in 
the  memory  of  Daniel  Boone ;  let 
the  citizens  of  Minnesota  not  forget 
Joseph  Renville,  though  he  was  a 
"  bois  brul6." 

His  descendants  are  still  living 
among  the  Dahkotahs.  The  son  who 
bore  his  name,  died  on  February 
eighth,  1856,  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  the  mission  at  Payutazee.  The 
Rev.  S.  R.  Riggs,  in  a  communica- 
tion to  the  St.  Paul  Daily  Times, 
remarks : — 

"  The  deceased  was  about  forty- 
seven  years  of  age,  a  son  of  Joseph 
Renville,  who  died  at  Lac  qui  Parle 
Bome  years  since,  and  whose  memory 
is  identified  with  the  past  history  of 


Minnesota.  Inheriting  from  his 
father  many  noble  and  generous 
qualities,  unfortunately  for  himself 
and  family,  the  habits  of  the  Indian 
trade  in  which  the  deceased  was 
educated,  were  not  such  as  enabled 
him  to  gain  a  comfortable  livelihood 
by  labour.  After  the  death  of  his 
father,  he  removed  with  his  family  to 
the  Mississippi,  and  resided  for  some 
time  at  Kaposia,  with  Little  Crow's 
band,  many  of  whom  were  his 
mother's  relatives.  Soon  after  the 
cession  of  this  Minnesota  country  to 
the  United  States,  he  with  a  younger 
brother,  and  cousin  of  the  same 
family  name,  removed  up  to  the 
neighbourhood  of  Fort  Ridgley. 
When  they  attended  the  payment  at 
Yellow  Medicine,  he  was  already  far 
gone  in  the  disease  which  has  just 
terminated  his  earthly  career.  Here, 
in  the  house  of  a  younger  brother, 
and  with  other  relations,  he  with 
his  family  found  a  temporary  home, 
and  a  place  to  die.  Through  the 
kindness  of  friends  and  neighbours, 
they  have  not  wanted.  It  has  been 
pleasjint  to  see  that  former  kind- 
nesses received  from  the  family  when 
his  father  was  a  prince  in  wealth 
among  them,  have  not  been  entirely 
forgotten  by  the  Dahkotahs,  but 
have  been  returned  now  to  the  sou 
iu  his  sickness." 


480  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

after,  Eoberts  and  Simpson  followed,  and  opened  small 
Indian  trading  shops.  In  the  year  1846,  the  site  of  St. 
Paul  was  chiefly  occupied  by  a  few  shanties,  owned  by 
"  certain  lewd  fellows  of  the  baser  sort,"  who  sold  rum 
to  the  soldier  and  Indian.  It  was  despised  by  all  decent 
white  men,  and  known  to  the  Dahkotahs  by  an  expres- 
sion in  their  tongue,  which  means,  the  place  where  they 
sell  minne-wakan.^ 

The  chief  of  the  Kaposia  band  in  1846,  was  shot  by 
his  own  brother  in  a  drunken  revel,  but  surviving  the 
wound,  and  apparently  alarmed  at  the  deterioratiiDn 
under  the  influence  of  the  modem  harpies  at  St.  Paul, 
went  to  Mr.  Bruce,  Indian  agent,  at  Fort  Snelling,  and 
requested  a  missionary.  The  Indian  agent  in  his 
report  to  government,  says  : — 

"  The  chief  of  the  Little  Crow's  band,  who  reside  below 
this  place  (Fort  Snelling)  about  nine  miles,  in  the  im- 
mediate neighbourhood  of  the  whiskey  dealers,  has 
requested  to  have  a  school  established  at  his  village.  He 
says  they  are  determined  to  reform,  and  for  the  future, 
will  try  to  do  better.  I  wTote  to  Doctor  AVilliamson 
soon  after  the  request  was  made,  desiring  him  to  take 
charge  of  the  school.  He  has  had  charge  of  the  mis- 
sion school  at  Lac  qui  Parle  for  some  years ;  is  well 
qualified,  and  is  an  excellent  jDhysician." 

In  November,  1846,  Dr.  Williamson  came  from  Lac 
qui  Parle  as  requested,  and  became  a  resident  of  Ka- 
posia. While  disapproving  of  their  practices,  he  felt  a 
kindly  interest  in  the  whites  of  Pig's  Eye,  which  place 
was  now  beginning  to  be  called,  after  a  little  log  chapel 

^  Supernatural  water. 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  NAME  OF  CITY  OF  ST.  PAUL. 


481 


which  had  been  erected  by  the  voyageurs,  St.  Paul's/ 
Though  a  missionary  among  the  Dahkotahs,  he  was 
the  first  to  take  steps  to  promote  the  education  of  the 
whites  and  half-breeds  of  Minnesota.  In  the  year  1847, 
he  wrote  to  Ex-Governor  Slade,  President  of  the  Na- 
tional Popular  Education  Society,  in  relation  to  the 
condition  of  what  has  subsequently  become  the  capital 
of  the  state.^ 


'  St.  Paul  was  then  called  St. 
Paul's,  because  at  that  time  refer- 
ence Tvas  had  to  the  chapel  of  St. 
Paul,  the  designation  of  the  log 
church. 

*  The  letter  of  Dr.  Williamson 
gives,  probably,  the  first  description 
of  the  hamlet  of  St.  Paul  as  it  was 
in  1847  :— 

"  My  present  residence  is  on  the 
utmost  verge  of  civilization,  in  the 
north-western  part  of  the  United 
States,  within  a  few  miles  of  the 
principal  village  of  white  men  in 
the  territory  that  we  suppose  will 
hear  the  name  of  Minnesota,  which 
some  would  render  '  clear  water,' 
though  strictly  it  signifies  slightly 
turbid  or  whitish  water. 

"The village  referred  to  has  grown 
up  within  a  few  years  in  a  romantic 
situation  on  a  high  blufi"  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, and  has  been  baptized  by 
the  Roman  Catholics,  by  the  name 
of  St.  Paul.  They  have  erected  in 
it  a  small  chapel,  and  constitute 
much  the  larger  portion  of  the  inha- 
bitants. The  Dahkotahs  call  it  Im- 
ni-ja-ska  (white  rock),  from  the 
colour  of  the  sandstone  which  forms 
the  blufi"  on  which  the  village  stands. 
31 


This  village  has  five  stores,  as  they 
call  them,  at  all  of  which  intoxicat- 
ing drinks  constitute  a  part,  and  I 
suppose  the  principal  part,  of  what 
they  sell.  I  would  suppose  the  vil- 
lage contains  a  dozen  or  twenty  fa- 
milies living  near  enough  to  send  to 
school.  Since  I  came  to  this  neigh- 
bourhood I  have  had  frequent  occa- 
sion to  visit  the  village,  and  have 
been  grieved  to  see  so  many  children 
growing  up  entirely  ignorant  of  God, 
and  unable  to  read  his  Word,  with 
no  one  to  teach  themi  Unless  your 
Society  can  send  them  a  teacher, 
there  seems  to  be  little  prospect  of 
their  having  one  for  several  years. 
A  few  days  since,  I  went  to  the  place 
for  the  purpose  of  making  inquiries 
in  reference  to  the  prospect  of  a 
school.  I  visited  seven  families,  in 
which  there  were  twenty-three  child- 
ren of  proper  age  to  attend  school, 
and  was  told  of  five  more  in  which 
were  thirteen  more  that  it  is  sup- 
posed might  attend,  making  thirty- 
six  in  twelve  families.  I  suppose 
more  than  half  of  the  parents  of  these 
children  are  unable  to  read  them- 
selves, and  care  but  little  about  hav- 
ing their  children  taught.     Possibly 


482 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


In  accordance  with  liis  request,  Miss  H.  E.  Bishop 
came  to  his  mission-house  at  Kaposia,  and,  after  a  short 
time,  was  introduced  by  him  to  the  citizens  of  St.  Paul. 
The  first  school-house  in  Minnesota  besides  those  con- 
nected with  the  Indian  missions,  stood  on  the  site  of  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church,  and  is  thus  described  by 
the  teacher: — 

"  The  school  was  commenced  in  a  little  log  hovel, 
covered  with  bark,  and  chinked  Avith  mud,  previously 
used  as  a  blacksmith  shop.  It  was  a  room  about  ten 
by  twelve  feet.  On  three  sides  of  the  interior  of  this 
humble  log  cabin,  pegs  were  driven  into  the  logs,  upon 
which  boards  were  laid  for  seats.  Another  seat  was 
made  by  placing  one  end  of  a  plank  between  the  cracks 
of  the  logs,  and  the  other  upon  a  chair.     This  was  for 


the  priest  might  deter  some  from  at- 
tending, -who  might  otherwise  be 
able  and  willing. 

"  I  suppose  a  good  female  teacher 
can  do  more  to  promote  the  cause  of 
education  and  true  religion  than  a 
man.  The  natural  politeness  of  the 
French  (who  constitute  more  than 
half  the  population)  would  cause 
them  to  be  kind  and  courteous  to  a 
female,  even  though  the  priest  should 
seek  to  cause  opposition.  I  suppose 
she  might  have  twelve  or  fifteen 
scholars  to  begin  with,  and  if  she 
should  have  a  good  talent  of  winning 
the  aflFections  of  children  (and  one 
who  has  not  should  not  come),  after 
a  few  months  she  would  have  as 
many  as  she  could  attend  to. 

"One  woman  told  me  she  had 
four  children  she  wished  to  send  to 


school,  and  that  she  would  give 
boarding  and  a  room  in  her  house  to 
a  good  female  teacher,  for  the  tuition 
of  her  children. 

"  A  teacher  for  this  place  should 
love  the  Saviour,  and  for  his  sake 
should  be  willing  to  forego,  not  only 
many  of  the  religious  privileges  and 
elegances  of  New  England  towns, 
but  some  of  the  neatness  also.  She 
should  be  entirely  free  from  preju- 
dice on  account  of  colour,  for  among 
her  scholars  she  might  find  not  only 
English,  French,  and  Swiss,  but 
Sioux  and  Chippewas,  with  some 
claiming  kindred  with  the  African 
stock. 

"  A  teacher  coming  should  bring 
books  with  her  suflBcient  to  begin  a 
school,  as  there  is  no  book-store 
within  three  hundred  miles." 


FIRST  SCHOOL-HOUSE  IN  WHITE  SETTLEMENTS.  483 

visiters.     A  rickety  cross-legged  table  in  the  centre,  and 
a  hen's  nest  in  one  corner,  completed  the  furniture."^ 

St.  Croix  county,  in  the  year  1847,  was  detached 
from  Crawford  county,  Wisconsin,  and  reorganized  for 
judicial  purposes,  and  Stillwater  made  the  county  seat. 
In  the  month  of  June  the  United  States  District  Court 
held  its  session  in  the  store-room  of  Mr.  John  McKusick ; 
Judge  Charles  Dunn  presiding.  A  large  number  of 
lumbermen  had  been  attracted  by  the  pineries  in  the 
upper  portion  of  the  valley  of  St.  Croix,  and  Stillwater 
was  looked  upon  as  the  centre  of  the  lumbering  interest. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Boutwell,  feeling  that  he  could  be  more 
useful,  left  the  Ojibways,  and  took  up  his  residence  near 
Stillwater,  preaching  to  the  lumbermen  at  the  Falls  of 
St.  Croix,  Marine  Mills,  Stillwater,  and  Cottage  Grove. 
In  a  letter,  speaking  of  Stillwater,  he  says,  "  Here  is  a 
little  village  sprung  up  like  a  gourd,  but  whether  it  is 
to  perish  as  soon,  God  only  knows." 

For  a  long  time  it  had  been  thought  expedient  to 
change  the  location  of  the  Winnebago  Indians,  from  the 
neutral  ground  of  Iowa,  to  a  point  more  remote  from 
white  men.  By  the  terms  of  a  treaty,  made  at  Wash- 
ington in  October,  1846,  they  agreed  to  recede  from 
their  possessions,  in  Iowa,  in  the  year  1848.  Hon. 
Henry  M.  Rice  had  selected  for  them  a  new  home,  and 
with  difficulty  obtained  it  from  the  Ojibways,  between 
the  Sauk  and  Long  Prairie,  and  Crow  Wing  rivers. 

In  the  spring  of  1848  their  agent,  Mr.  J.  E.  Fletcher, 
discovered  that  a  large  portion  of  the  tribe  were  desirous 
of  emigrating  to  the  Missouri,  and  grumbled  at  the  pre- 
parations to  remove  northward.      The  treaty  granted 

»  "Floral  Sketches,"  by  Miss  II.  E.  Bishop,  p.  87. 


484  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

twenty  thousand  dollars  to  the  Indians,  to  pay  the  ex- 
penses of  their  removal  to  their  new  location,  to  be  paid 
after  they  arrived  there.  As  no  one  was  willing  to  trust 
Indians,  for  large  amounts,  Mr.  Rice,  and  a  few  others, 
were  obliged  to  advance  the  supplies  necessary  for  the 
support  of  the  tribe. 

The  difficulty  in  relation  to  subsistence  being  over- 
come, it  was  agreed  that  the  tribe  should  move  in  two 
parties,  one  in  canoes  and  boats  up  the  Mississippi,  in 
charge  of  Mr.  Rice,  the  other  by  land,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Agent  Fletcher.  When  the  appointed  time  came 
to  start,  June  the  sixth,  1848,  the  Indians  dallied,  and 
the  agent  grew  impatient,  and,  in  the  hope  of  hurrying 
them,  had  their  baggage  placed  in  the  wagons,  which 
was  as  quickly  thrown  out  again  by  the  savages.  The 
agent  sent  for  the  troops  at  Fort  Atkinson,  and  the 
Indians  made  ready  for  battle.  The  troops  remained 
drawn  up  in  hostile  array  until  dark ;  the  next  day  an 
appeal  was  made  to  the  stomach  of  the  Winnebagoes, 
always  potent:  beef  was  plentifully  distributed,  and  a 
calm  ensued. 

The  land  party  now  agreed  to  move,  provided  they 
could  join  the  river  detachment  at  Wapashaw  Prairie. 
At  WapashaAV  they  arrived  without  any  trouble,  and 
found  Mr.  Rice,  with  his  division  of  the  tribe,  and  the 
company  of  volunteers  that  had  accompanied  him,  wait- 
ing for  their  appearance.  Almost  the  entire  nation, 
with  the  exception  of  Little  Hill,  instead  of  encamping 
on  the  river  bank,  near  the  whites,  sought  the  land 
beneath  the  bluflfs,  thus  causing  a  creek  and  slough  to 
intervene. 

Pleased  with  the  appearance  of  the  prairie,  where  the 
town  of  Winona  now  stands,  they  purchased  it  of  Wapa- 


WINNEBAGOES  DESIRE  TO  SETTLE  AT  WINONA.  485 

shaw,  the  Dahkotah  chief,  and  expressed  their  deter- 
mination not  to  move  a  step  further.  Wapashaw  and 
his  band  uniting  with  them,  they  made  war  speeches, 
prepared  for  battle,  and  worked  themselves  into  frenzy. 
Mr.  Rice,  perceiving  that  this  was  a  critical  juncture, 
chartered  a  steamboat  that  happened  to  be  there,  and 
it  was  hurried  to  Fort  Snelling. 

By  request.  Captain  S.  H.  Eastman  came  down  with 
a  company  of  infantry,  and  a  party  of  Dahkotah s  from 
the  Minnesota  river,  who  came  to  welcome  the  Winne- 
bagoes,  and  say  that  they  w^ould  be  pleased  to  have 
them,  in  the  place  of  the  Ojibways,  for  their  neighbours 
on  the  north.  The  company  of  volunteers  from  Crawford 
county,  the  United  States  dragoons  from  Fort  Atkinson, 
and  the  infantry  from  Fort  Snelling,  and  sixty  armed 
teamsters,  were  now  placed  under  tlie  command  of 
Eastman.  The  Indians,  arrayed  on  the  other  side  of 
the  slough,  numbered  about  twelve  hundred.  The 
next  day  was  appointed  for  a  council,  between  the 
Winnebagoes  and  the  Dahkotahs  of  the  Minnesota 
river. 

The  day  was  one  of  those  beautiful  days  in  June 
which  so  charm  the  resident  of  Minnesota,  and  the 
troops  were  all  drawn  out  ready  for  service  at  a  mo- 
ment's warning ;  the  teamsters,  near  the  wagons,  under 
Mr.  Culver,  now  of  St.  Paul,  on  the  right,  the  infantry 
in  the  centre,  with  two  six-pounders  charged  with 
grape ;  the  dragoons  on  the  left.  About  ten  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  the  Indians,  chiefly  on  horseback,  painted 
and  decked  with  all  their  war  ornaments,  marched 
around  the  head  of  the  slough  toward  the  camp. 

A  mile  from  the  council  ground  they  halted,  and  sent 
forward  a  deputation  to  ask  "  Why  the  array  of  glitter- 


486  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

ing  muskets,  as  they  supposed  they  were  coming  to 
council,  and  not  to  fight  ?"  Captain  Eastman  replied, 
"  that  he  was  prepared  for  either :  if  they  wished  to 
hold  a  council,  they  would  not  be  molested."  Permis- 
sion being  granted,  they  rode  around  the  arranged 
council  ground  and  returned.  In  a  moment  the  whole 
cavalcade,  twelve  abreast,  were  in  motion  toward  the 
United  States  troops ;  and  as  the  terrific  war  whoop  was 
sounded,  the  Americans  began  to  think  that  they  might 
feel  the  scalping  knife.  Everything  was  made  ready 
for  the  worst :  the  cannon  were  loaded,  and  soldiers 
stood  by  with  the  lighted  matches,  waiting  for  the  voice 
of  command. 

While  the  council  was  proceeding  between  the  Dah- 
kotahs  and  Winnebagoes,  an  Indian  and  a  soldier  met, 
and  were  about  to  fight.  Should  either  party  fire,  the 
slaughter  would  be  instantaneous,  as  both  sides  knew ; 
and  the  excitement  for  a  moment  was  intense.  By  the 
timely  interposition  of  Mr.  Rice  and  others,  the  Indian 
and  soldier  were  led  away,  and  the  danger  passed. 

During  the  rest  of  the  day  the  Indians  were  in  coun- 
cil, but,  sustained  by  Wapashaw,  they  still  remained 
firm  in  their  determination  not  to  leave  that  prairie. 
Little  Hill,  and  a  small  band  of  Winnebagoes,  had  never 
sympathized  in  the  revolt ;  and  at  last.  Agent  Fletcher, 
taking  them  on  board  of  a  steamboat,  carried  them  up 
to  Fort  Snelling,  leaving  matters  at  Wapashaw  in  charge 
of  Mr.  Rice. 

This  sudden  movement  was  a  great  surprise  to  the 
disaffected,  and  by  the  efibrts  of  Mr.  E.  A.  Hatch,  S. 
B.  Lowry,  George  Culver  and  others,  they  began  to 
waver,  and  by  the  time  the  boat  came  back  seventeen 
hundred  were  ready  to  embark ;  the  remainder  retreat- 


H.  M.  RICE  ARRESTS  WAPASHAW.  487 

ing  towards  the  Missouri  river  or  into  Wisconsin.  Mr. 
Rice,  with  a  lieutenant  and  two  soldiers,  now  proceeded 
to  the  lodge  of  Wapashaw,  and  arresting  him,  he  was 
sent  a  prisoner  to  Fort  Snelling. 

About  the  first  of  July,  the  Winnebagoes  began  to 
move  again ;  but  on  their  route,  those  who  had  charge 
of  the  Indians  were  much  annoyed  by  creatures  that 
were  destitute  of  the  instincts  of  manhood,  selling  liquor 
to  them.  As  a  precaution  against  further  difficulty, 
orders  were  given  to  destroy  all  the  whiskey  that  w^as 
discovered  on  the  Une  of  march.  About  the  first  of 
August  they  arrived  at  Watab  in  their  new  country, 
on  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi,  above  St.  Cloud.* 

*  For  the  facts  concerning  the  re-  George  Culver,  of  St.  Paul,  and  to 
moval,  I  am  indebted  to  a  manu-  conversations  with  Hon.  Henry  M. 
script  kindly  furnished  me  by  Mr.     Rice. 


488  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

Three  years  elapsed  from  the  time  that  the  Territory 
of  Minnesota  was  proposed  in  Congress  to  the  final  pas- 
sage of  the  organic  act.  On  the  sixth  of  August,  1846, 
an  act  was  passed  by  Congress  authorizing  the  citizens 
of  Wisconsin  Territory  to  frame  a  constitution,  and 
form  a  state  government.  The  act  fixed  the  St.  Louis 
river  to  the  rapids,  from  thence  south  to  the  St.  Croix, 
and  thence  down  that  river  to  its  junction  with  the 
Mississippi,  as  the  western  boundary. 

On  the  twenty-third  of  December,  1846,  the  delegate 
from  Wisconsin,  Morgan  L.  Martin,  introduced  a  bill  in 
Congress  for  the  organization  of  a  territory  of  Minne- 
sota. This  bill  made  its  western  boundary  the  Sioux 
and  Red  River  of  the  North.  On  the  third  of  March, 
1857,  permission  was  granted  to  Wisconsin  to  change 
her  boundary,  so  that  the  western  limit  would  proceed 
due  south  from  the  first  rapids  of  the  St.  Louis  river, 
and  fifteen  miles  east  of  the  most  easterly  point  of  Lake 
St.  Croix,  thence  to  the  Mississippi. 

A  number  in  the  constitutional  convention  of  Wis- 
consin were  anxious  that  Rum  river  should  be  a  part 
of  her  western  boundary,  while  citizens  of  the  valley 
of  St.  Croix  were  desirous  that  the  Chippeway  river 


REMONSTRANCE  AGAINST  PROPOSED  BOUNDARY.  489 

should  be  the  limit  of  AVisconsin.  The  citizens  of  Wis- 
consin Territory,  in  the  valley  of  the  St.  Croix,  and 
about  Fort  Snelling,  wished  to  be  included  in  the  pro- 
jected new  territory,  and  on  the  twenty-eighth  of  March, 
1848,  a  memorial  signed  by  H.  H.  Sibley,  Henry  M. 
Rice,  Franklin  Steele,  William  R.  Marshall  and  others, 
was  presented  to  Congress,  remonstrating  against  the 
proposition  before  the  convention  to  make  Rum  river  a 
portion  of  the  boundar}^  line  of  the  contemplated  state 
of  Wisconsin.     The  petitioners  remark  : — 

"  Your  memorialists  conceive  it  to  be  the  intention 
of  your  honourable  bodies  so  to  divide  the  present  terri- 
tory of  Wisconsin  as  to  form  two  states  nearly  equal  in 
size  as  well  as  other  respects.  A  line  drawn  due  south 
from  Shag^vamigan  Bay,  on  Lake  Superior,  to  the  inter- 
section of  the  main  Chippeway  river,  and  from  thence 
down  the  middle  of  said  stream  to  its  debouchure  into 
the  Mississippi,  would  seem  to  your  memorialists  a  very 
proper  and  equitable  division,  which,  while  it  would 
secure  to  Wisconsin  a  portion  of  the  Lake  Superior 
shore,  would  also  afford  to  Minnesota  some  countervail- 
ing advantages.  But  if  the  northern  line  should  be 
changed,  as  suggested  by  the  convention,  Minnesota 
would  not  have  a  single  point  on  the  Mississippi  below 
the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  which  is  the  limit  of  steam- 
boat navigation.  This  alone,  to  the  apprehension  of 
your  memorialists,  would  be  a  good  and  sufficient  reason 
why  the  mouth  of  Rum  river  should  not  be  the  bound- 
ary, as  that  stream  pours  its  waters  into  the  Mississippi 
nearly  twenty  miles  above  the  Falls.  Besides  this,  the 
Chippeway  and  St.  Croix  valleys  are  closel}'  connected 
in  geographical  position  with  the  Upper  Mississippi, 
while  they  are  widely  separated  from  the  settled  parts 


490  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

of  Wisconsin,  not  only  by  hundreds  of  miles  of  mostly 
waste  and  barren  lands,  which  must  remain  uncultivated 
for  ages,  but  equally  so  by  a  diversity  of  interests  and 
character  in  the  population." 

On  the  twenty- ninth  of  May,  1848,  the  act  to  admit 
Wisconsin  changed  their  boundary  line  to  the  present, 
and  as  first  defined  in  the  enabling  act  of  1846.  After 
the  bill  of  Mr.  Martin  was  introduced  into  the  House 
of  Representatives  in  1846  it  was  referred  to  the  Com- 
mittee on  Territories,  of  which  Mr.  Douglas  was  chair- 
man. On  the  twentieth  of  January,  1847,  he  reported 
in  favour  of  the  proposed  territory  with  the  name  of 
Itasca.  On  the  seventeenth  of  February,  before  the 
bill  passed  the  House,  a  discussion  arose  in  relation  to 
the  proposed  names.  Mr.  Winthrop  of  Massachusetts 
proposed  Chippeway  as  a  substitute,  alleging  that  this 
tribe  was  the  principal  in  the  proposed  territory,  which 
was  not  correct.  Mr.  J.  Thomson  of  Mississippi  dis- 
liked all  Indian  names,  and  hoped  that  the  territory 
would  be  called  Jackson.  Mr.  Houston  of  Delaware 
thought  that  there  ought  to  be  one  territory  named  after 
the  "  Father  of  his  country,"  and  proposed  Washington. 
All  of  the  names  proposed  were  rejected,  and  the  name 
in  the  original  bill  inserted.  On  the  last  day  of  the 
session,  March  third,  the  bill  was  called  up  in  the 
Senate  and  laid  on  the  table. 

When  Wisconsin  became  a  state  the  query  arose 
whether  the  old  territorial  government  did  not  continue 
in  force  west  of  the  St.  Croix  river.  The  first  meeting 
on  the  subject  of  claiming  territorial  privileges  was  held 
in  the  building  at  St,  Paul,  known  as  Jackson's  store, 
near  the  corner  of  Bench  and  Jackson  streets,  on  the 
bluff.    This  meeting  was  held  in  July,  and  a  convention 


PUBLIC  MEETING  AT  STILLWATER. 


491 


was  proposed  to  consider  their  position.  The  first  pub- 
lic meeting  ^  was  held  at  Stillwater  on  August  fourth,  and 
Messrs.  Steele  and  Sibley  were  the  only  persons  present 
from  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi.  This  meeting 
issued  a  call  for  a  general  convention  to  take  steps  to 
secure  an  early  territorial  organization,  to  assemble  on 
the  twenty-sixth  of  the  month  at  the  same  place. 
Sixty-two  delegates  answered  the  call,  and  to  the  con- 
vention a  letter^  was  presented  from  Mr.  Catlin,  who 


^  Among  those  present,  were  W. 
D.  Phillips,  J.  W.  Bass,  A.  Larpen- 
teur,  J.  McBoal,  and  others  from  St. 
Paul. 

*  "  Madison,  August  22,  1848. 
Hon.  Wm.  Holcombe : 

"Dear  Sir:  I  take  the  liberty  tu 
write  you  briefly  for  the  purpose  of 
ascertaining  what  the  citizens  of  the 
present  Territory  of  Wisconsin  desire 
in  relation  to  the  organization  of  a 
territorial  government.  Congress 
adjourned  on  the  fourteenth  instant, 
without  taking  any  steps  to  organize 
the  Territory  of  Minnesota,  or  of 
amending  the  act  of  1836,  organizing 
Wisconsin,  so  that  the  present  go- 
vernment could  be  successfully  con- 
tinued. 

"  I  have  given  Mr.  Bowron,  by 
whom  I  send  this,  a  copy  of  Mr. 
Buchanan's  opinion,  by  which  he 
gives  it  as  his  opinion  that  the  laws 
of  Wisconsin  are  in  force  in  your 
territory ;  and  if  the  laws  are  in 
force,  I  think  it  is  equally  clear  that 
the  oflBcers  necessary  to  carry  out 
those  laws  are  still  in  oflBce.  After 
the  organization  of  the  State  of 
Michigan,  but  before  her  admission. 
Gen.  G.  W.  Jones  was  elected  by 


the  Territory  of  Michigan  (now 
State  of  Wisconsin),  and  was  allowed 
to  take  his  seat. 

"  It  is  my  opinion  that  if  your  peo- 
ple were  to  elect  a  delegate  this  fall, 
he  would  be  allowed  to  take  his  seat 
in  December,  and  then  a  government 
might  be  fully  organized:  and 
unless  a  delegate  is  elected  and  sent 
on,  I  do  not  believe  a  government 
will  be  organized  for  several  years. 
You  are  aware  of  the  diflBculty  which 
has  prevented  the  organization  of 
Oregon  for  two  years  past ;  and  the 
same  difficulty  will  prevent  the 
organization  of  Minnesota.  If  Mr. 
Tweedy  were  to  resign,  (and  he 
would  if  requested),  I  do  not  see 
anything  to  prevent  my  issuing  a 
proclamation  for  an  election  to  fill 
the  vacancy,  as  the  acting  governor  ; 
but  I  should  not  like  to  do  so  unless 
the  people  would  act  under  it,  and 
hold  the  election. 

"  If  a  delegate  was  elected  by  co- 
lour of  law.  Congress  never  would  in- 
quire into  the  legality  of  the  election. 

"  It  is  the  opinion  of  almost  all  this 
way  that  the  government  of  the 
Territory  of  Wisconsin  still  conti- 
nues, although  it  is  nearly  inopera- 


492  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

claimed  to  be  acting  governor,  giving  his  opinion  that 
the  Wisconsin  territorial  organization  was  still  in  force. 
The  meeting  also  appointed  Mr.  Sibley  to  visit  Wash- 
ington and  represent  their  views ;  but  the  Hon.  John 
H.  Tweedy  having  resigned  his  office  of  delegate  to 
Congress  on  September  eighteenth,  1848,  Mr.  Catlin, 
who  had  made  Stillwater  a  temporary  residence,  on 
the  ninth  of  October  issued  a  proclamation  ordering 
a  special  election  at  Stillwater  on  the  thirtieth,  to  fill 
the  vacancy  occasioned  by  the  resignation.  At  this 
election  Henry  H.  Sibley  was  elected  as  delegate  of  the 
citizens  of  the  remaining  portion  of  Wisconsin  Territory. 
His  credentials  were  presented  to  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, and  the  committee  to  whom  the  matter  was 
referred  presented  a  majority  and  minority  report ;  but 
the  resolution  introduced  by  the  majority  passed,  and 
Mr.  Sibley  took  his  seat  as  a  delegate  from  Wisconsin 
Territory  on  the  fifteenth  of  January,  1849. 

Mr.  H.  M.  Rice,  and  other  gentlemen,  visited  Wash- 
ington during  the  winter,  and,  uniting  with  Mr.  Sibley, 
used  all  their  energies  to  obtain  the  organization  of  a 
new  territory. 

On  the  third  of  March,  1849,  a  bill  was  passed  or- 
ganizing the  Territory  of  Minnesota,^  whose  boundary 

tive,  for  want  of  a  court  and  legisla-  "  I  shall  be  pleased  to  hear  from 

ture.  you  at  your  earliest  convenience. 

"  I  write  in  haste,  and  have  not  "  Yours  very  respectfully, 

time   to   state   further   the    reasons  "  John  Catlin." 

which  lead  me  to  the  conclusion  that  ^  Boundaries  of  the  Territory  of 

the    territorial    government  is   still  Minnesota : — 

in  being;  but  you  can  confer  with  "Beginning    in    the    Mississippi 

Mr.  Bowron,  who,   I  believe,  is  in  river,  at  the  point  where  the  line  of 

possession  of  the  views  and  opinions  forty-three  degrees   and   thirty  mi- 

entcrtained  here  on  the  subject.  nutes  of  north  latitude  crosses  the 


TERRITORY  OF  MINNESOTA  CREATED.  493 

on  the  west  extended  to  the  Missouri  river.  At  the 
time  of  the  passage  of  the  bill,  organizing  the  Territory 
of  Minnesota,  the  region  was  little  more  than  a  wilder- 
ness. The  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  from  the  Iowa 
line  to  Lake  Itasca,  was  unceded  by  the  Indians. 

At  Wapashaw  was  a  trading-post  in  charge  of  Alexis 
Bailly,  of  whom  mention  has  been  made,  and  here  also 
resided  the  ancient  voyageur,  of  fourscore  years,  A. 
Rocque.  At  the  foot  of  Lake  Pepin  was  a  store-house 
kept  by  Mr.  F.  S.  Richards.  On  the  west  shore  of  the 
lake  lived  the  eccentric  "Wells,  whose  wife  was  a  bois 
brule — a  daughter  of  the  deceased  trader,  Duncan  Grsr 
ham.  The  two  unfinished  buildings  of  stone,  on  the 
beautiful  bank  opposite  the  renowned  Maiden's  Rock, 
and  the  surrounding  skin  lodges  of  his  wife's  relatives 
and  friends,  presented  a  rude  but  picturesque  scene. 
Above  the  lake  was  a  cluster  of  bark  wigwams,  the 
Dalikotah  village  of  Raymneecha,  now  Red  Wing,  at 
wliich  was  a  Presbyterian  mission-house.  The  next 
settlement  was  Kaposia,  also  an  Indian  village,  and  the 
residence  of  a  Presbyterian  missionary,  the  Rev.  T.  S. 
Williamson,  M.  D, 

same,  thence  running  due  west  on  United  States  and  Great  Britain ; 
said  line,  which  is  the  northern  thence  east  and  south  of  east  along 
boundary  of  the  State  of  Iowa,  to  the  boundary  line  between  the  pos- 
the  north-west  corner  of  the  said  sessions  of  the  United  States  and 
State  of  Iowa,  thence  southerly  along  Great  Britain,  to  Lake  Superior  ; 
the  western  boundary  of  said  State  thence  in  a  straight  line  to  the  north- 
to  the  point  where  said  boundary  ernmost  point  of  the  State  of  Wis- 
etrikes  the  Missouri  river,  thence  up  consin  in  Lake  Superior  ;  thenco 
the  middle  of  the  main  channel  of  along  the  western  boundary  line  of 
the  Missouri  river,  to  the  mouth  of  said  State  of  Wisconsin,  to  the  Miss- 
White  Earth  river,  thence  up  the  issippi  river ;  thence  down  the  main 
middle  of  the  main  channel  of  the  channel  of  said  river  to  the  place  of 
White  Earth  river  to  the  boundary  beginning." 
line  between  the  possessions  of  the 


494  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

On  the  east  side  of  the  Mississippi,  the  first  settle- 
ment, at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Croix,  was  Point  Douglas, 
then,  as  now,  a  small  hamlet.  At  Red  Rock,  the  site 
of  a  former  Methodist  mission  station,  there  were  a  few 
farmers.  St.  Paul  was  just  emerging  from  a  collection 
of  Indian  whiskey  shops,  and  birch-roofed  cabins  of 
half-breed  voyageurs.  Here  and  there  a  frame  tene- 
ment was  erected ;  and,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Hon. 
H.  M.  Rice,  who  had  obtained  an  interest  in  the  town, 
some  warehouses  were  being  constructed,  and  the  foun- 
dations of  the  American  House  were  laid.  In  1849,  the 
population  had  increased  to  two  hundred  and  fifty  or 
three  hundred  inhabitants,  for  rumours  had  gone  abroad 
that  it  might  be  mentioned  in  the  act,  creating  the  ter- 
ritory, as  the  capital. 

More  than  a  month  after  the  adjournment  of  Con- 
gress, just  at  eve,  on  the  ninth  of  April,  amid  terrific 
peals  of  thunder  and  torrents  of  rain,  the  weekly  steam- 
packet,  the  first  to  force  its  way  through  the  icy  barrier 
of  Lake  Pepin,  rounded  the  rocky  point,  whistling  loud 
and  long,  as  if  the  bearer  of  glad  tidings.  Before  she 
was  safely  moored  to  the  landing,  the  shouts  of  the  ex- 
cited villagers  announced  that  there  was  a  Territory  of 
Minnesota,  and  that  St.  Paul  was  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment. Every  successive  steamboat  arrival  poured  out 
on  the  landing  men  big  with  hope,  and  anxious  to  do 
something  to  mould  the  future  of  the  new  state. 

Nine  days  after  the  news  of  the  existence  of  the  Ter- 
ritory of  Minnesota  was  received,  there  arrived  James 
M.  Goodhue  with  press,  types,  and  printing  apparatus. 
A  graduate  of  Amherst  College,  and  a  lawyer  by  pro- 
fession, he  wielded  a  sharp  pen,  and  wrote  editorials, 
which,  more  than  anything  else,  perhaps,  induced  emi- 


ALEXANDER  RAMSEY,  FIRST  GOVERNOR.  495 

gration.  Though  a  man  of  some  glaring  faults,  one  of 
the  counties  properly  bears  his  name.  On  the  twenty- 
eighth  of  April,  he  issued  the  first  number  of  the 
"  Pioneer." ' 

On  the  twenty-seventh  of  May,  Alexander  Ramsey, 
the  governor,  and  family  arrived  at  St.  Paul,  but,  owing 
to  the  crowded  state  of  the  public-houses,  immediately 
proceeded  in  the  steamer  to  the  establishment  of  the  fur 
company  known  as  Mendota,  at  the  junction  of  the  Min- 
nesota and  Mississippi,  and  became  the  guest  of  the  Hon. 
H.  H.  Sibley. 

For  several  weeks  there  resided,  at  the  confluence  of 
these  rivers,  four  individuals  who,  more  than  any  other 
men,  have  been  identified  with  the  public  interests  of 
Minnesota,  and  given  the  state  its  present  character. 
Their  names  are  attached  to  the  thriving  counties  of 
Ramsey,  Rice,  Sibley,  and  Steele. 

"  As  unto  the  bow,  the  cord  is, 
So  unto  the  man  is  the  woman, 
Though  she  bends  him,  she  obeys  him, 
Though  she  draws  him,  yet  she  follows, 
Useless  each  without  the  other  ;" 

Therefore  we  venture,  fully  aware  of  the  extreme 
delicacy  of  the  undertaking,  to  attempt  a  portrait,  not 
only  of  these  citizens,  but  of  those  who  are  their  wives, 

'  By  advertisements  in  its  columns,  John  J.  Dewey,  as  doctor  ;  Miss  Bi- 

David  Lambert,  deceased,  and  Wil-  shop  as  school  teacher;  and  Rev.  E. 

liam  D.  Phillips,  of  Washington  City,  D.  Neill,  as  a  resident  clergyman  ; 

appear  as  the  only  lawyers ;  J.  W.  W.  11.  Nobles,  and  D.  C.  Taylor,  as 

Bass  and  Lott  Moffett,  keepers  of  blacksmiths;  John  R.  Irvine,  as  plas- 

houses   of  entertainment  ;    Forbes,  tercr  ;  C.  P.  Lull,  as  house  builder  ; 

Myrick,  Simpson,  Fuller  &  Brother,  B.  W.  Bruneon,  surveyor, 
and    David    Olmsted,    as    traders; 


496  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

and  who  must  always  be  considered  as  among  the  pro- 
minent early  settlers, 

Alexander  Ramsey  is  still  in  the  prime  of  life,  and 
was  born  near  the  city  of  Harrisburg,  Pennsylvania. 
Blessed  with  worthy  and  industrious  parents,  he  was 
not  trained  to  habits  of  idleness.  From  an  early  period, 
he  betrayed  a  fondness  for  reading,  and  amid  difficulties 
which  would  have  deterred  many,  he  persevered  until 
he  succeeded  in  entering  Lafayette  College,  at  Easton, 
Pennsylvania.  Circumstances  were  such  that  he  re- 
mained but  a  brief  period.  A  correspondent  of  the 
Public  Ledger,  of  Philadelphia,  under  date  of  April 
fourth,  1849,  thus  writes  : — 

"  By  untiring  industry  and  perseverance,  he  struggled 
through  the  study  of  law,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
of  Dauphin  county.  The  first  public  office  ever  held 
by  him,  was  that  of  Secretary  of  the  Harrison  Electoral 
College  of  1840.  A  month  afterward,  in  January,  1841, 
he  was  elected  Clerk  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
of  Pennsylvania.  Li  1843,  he  was  nominated  by  the 
Whig  Conference  as  a  candidate  for  Congress,  to  repre- 
sent the  district,  embracing  the  counties  of  Dauphin, 
Lebanon,  and  Schuylkill.  He  was  elected  by  a  decisive 
majority;  and  in  Harrisburg,  his  place  of  residence, 
which  before  had  given  a  Democratic  majority,  there 
was  a  large  vote  in  his  favour.  His  course  in  Congress 
was  marked  rather  by  a  practical  business  devotion  to 
his  duties,  than  by  any  effiDrt  at  oratorical  display.  He 
was  nominated  and  re-elected  for  a  second  term ;  and  in 
1846,  declined  in  favour  of  another.  He  is  social  and 
good-humoured,  but  cool,  cautious,  shrewd,  and  perse- 
vering. He  is  a  man  of  very  large  perceptive  powers, 
and  of  much  grasp  of  intellect ;  altogether  what  might 


ANNA  E.  RAMSEY.  407 

be  termed  a  man  of  a  good  deal  of  force  of  cliaracter. 
He  speaks  well,  not  eloquently;  but  to  the  point,  quite 
as  fluently  in  German  as  in  English."     No  longer 

"  In  the  land  of  the  Dahkotahs, 
Lives  the  arrow-maker's  daughter, 
Minnehaha,  Laughing  Water, 
Handsomest  of  all  the  women  ;" 

Yet  the  first  governor  of  the  territory  appears  to 
have  received  from  some  one,  as  good  advice  as  Old 
Nokorais  gave  to  Hiawatha: — 

"  Bring  not  here  an  idle  maiden. 
Bring  not  here  a  useless  woman, 
Hands  unskilful,  feet  unwilling. 
Bring  a  wife  with  nimble  fingers, 
Heart  and  hand  that  move  together, 
Feet  that  run  on  willing  errands." 

His  wife  is  Anna  E.,  the  daughter  of  Hon.  Mr.  Jenks, 
of  Newtown,  a  former  member  of  Congress  from  Bucks 
county,  Pennsyh^ania.  At  the  time  of  his  marriage  in 
1845,  she  was  eighteen  years  of  age.  Accompanying 
her  husband  to  Minnesota,  when  it  was  chiefly  occupied 
by  savages,  removed  from  the  associations  of  her  child- 
hood, she  with  great  cheerfulness  adapted  herself  to  her 
new  position.  Queenly  and  attractive  in  appearance, 
she  well  fulfilled  the  duties  of  a  governor's  wife.  Affa- 
ble, open-hearted,  and  well  informed,  she  immediately^ 
became  a  favourite,  not  only  with  "  those  in  authority," 
but  also  with  the  plain  frontiersman.  Domestic  in  her 
tastes,  she  is  best  appreciated  by  those  who  know  her 
most  intimately. 

Henry  Hastings  Sibley  was  born  in  Detroit,  in  1812. 
His  father  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  one  of 


498  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

the  early  settlers  of  Michigan,  having  been  a  member 
of  the  first  Legislative  Assembly  of  the  North-west  Ter- 
ritory, which  met  at  Cincinnati.  Subsequently  he  was 
delegate  to  Congress,  and  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  Michigan.  His  mother  was  a  native  of  Rhode  Island, 
who  removed  with  her  parents  at  an  early  age  to  Ohio. 
Educated  at  the  celebrated  Moravian  School  at  Bethle- 
hem, and  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  she  was  refined 
and  accomplished,  and  trained  her  children  well. 

When  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  eighteen  years 
of  age,  he  became  a  clerk  of  Mr.  Stewart,  a  gentleman 
of  probity  and  intelligence,  who  had  charge  of  the 
depot  of  the  American  Fur  Company  at  Mackinaw.  In 
the  year  1834,  when  but  twenty-two  years  of  age,  Mr. 
Sibley  commenced  his  residence  at  Mendota,  as  clerk 
of  the  American  Fur  Company's  establishment.  After 
this  company  failed  in  1842,  the  inventory  was  pur- 
chased by  P.  Chouteau,  Jr.,  and  Co.,  of  St.  Louis,  and 
Mr.  Sibley  continued  the  business  until  he  became  a 
delegate  to  Congress  in  1848-49,  which  post  he  held 
for  several  years,  and  faithfully  discharged  its  duties. 
After  a  long  delay,  he  has  been  declared  by  the  board 
of  canvassers  the  governor  of  the  state. 

Mr.  Sibley's  wife  is  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
the  sister  of  Mr.  Franklin  Steele.  Married  at  an  early 
age,  she  also  gracefully  accommodated  herself  to  the 
novelty  of  frontier  life,  although,  living  immediately  op- 
posite to  Fort  Snelling,  she  found  some  congenial  society 
among  the  families  of  the  officers.  Sprightly  in  disposi- 
tion, and  devoted  to  her  children,  her  venerable  mother 
and  her  husband,  her  house  is  a  happy  home. 

Henry  M.  Rice,  one  of  the  representatives  of  the 
state  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  is  a  native  of 


SKETCH  OF  HENRY  M.  RICE.  409 

Vermont,  although  his  hfe,  from  youth,  has  been  passed 
in  the  ftxr  West.  With  much  foresight,  and  quick  in 
execution,  he  has  always  been  prominent  in  develop- 
ing the  resources  of  the  state  he  represents.  The  fol- 
lowing sketch,  published  a  few  years  ago,  gives  the 
views  of  one  of  Mr.  Rice's  friends : — 

"  He  settled  here  when  there  were  no  white  men  in 
the  territory,  except  Indian  traders,  missionaries,  and 
soldiers ;  and  during  his  long  residence,  has  been  noted 
as  the  promoter  of  every  enterprise  tending  to  develop 
the  hidden  wealth  of  Minnesota,  and  attract  hither  im- 
migration from  other  portions  of  the  country.  Two 
years  ago,  he  was  elected  to  Congress  by  an  overwhelm- 
ing vote ;  and  then  commenced  a  series  of  labours  on 
his  part  which  will  make  him  long  remembered  in  the 
territory  as  the  most  efficient  of  representatives.  The 
pre-emption  system  he  caused  to  be  extended  to  unsur- 
veyed  lands ;  the  military  reserves  opened  to  actual 
settlers;  land  offices  to  be  established;  post,  routes 
opened  out  and  offices  established ;  millions  of  acres  of 
lands  to  be  purchased  from  Indians,  and  thrown  open 
to  settlers ;  and  thousands  of  dollars  to  be  appropriated 
to  the  construction  of  government  roads.  Nor  was  this 
all :  legislation  for  the  benefit  of  individuals  entitled  to 
it,  was  secured,  and  no  exertion  ever  spared,  in  Congress 
and  out  of  it,  at  the  executive  departments  or  elsewhere, 
that  would  benefit  the  territory.  The  heavy  immigra- 
tion of  the  past  two  years  is  as  strong  proof  as  could 
be  desired  that  Minnesota  is  regarded  as  the  chosen 
spot  of  the  West,  either  for  immigrants  seeking  to  estab- 
lish themselves, or  capitalists  desiring  investments;  and 
for  much  of  this  heavy  immigration,  we  cannot  help 
thinking  our  territory  is  indebted  to  the  late  delegate; 


500  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

the  beneficial  legislation  he  procured  for  us,  rendered 
Minnesota  indeed  a  land  of  promise. 

"  Mr.  Rice  possesses  in  a  great  degree  the  qualities 
necessary  to  make  a  good  delegate.  His  winning  man- 
ners secure  him  hosts  of  friends,  and  enable  him  to 
acquire  great  influence ;  his  business  habits,  industr}^, 
and  perseverance,  insure  the  accomplishment  of  what- 
ever he  undertakes,  while  his  perfect  knowledge  of  the 
wants  of  the  territory,  prevents  his  efforts  from  being 
misdirected.  His  political  opinions  are  those  of  a  Na- 
tional Democrat — coinciding  with  those  of  the  president 
and  heads  of  departments,  a  majority  of  the  Senate, 
and  a  respectable  and  united  minority  in  the  House — 
which  will  successfully  combat  a  divided  majority." 

In  the  year  1849  Mr.  Rice  was  married  to  Miss 
Matilda  Whitall,  whose  family  reside  in  the  vicinity  of 
Richmond,  Virginia.  Youthful,  graceful  in  bearing,  and 
with  warm  impulses,  her  houses  in  Washington  and  St. 
Paul  have  always  been  an  agreeable  resort  to  her  hus- 
band's friends.  With  a  disposition  to  be  identified  with 
whatever  will  promote  the  interests  of  her  husband, 
she  proves  a  valuable  wife  as  well  as  attentive  mother. 

Franklin  Steele  is  a  native  of  Lancaster  county,  Penn- 
sylvania, and,  when  a  youth,  was  advised  by  Andrew 
Jackson,  late  President  of  the  United  States,  to  identify 
himself  with  the  West.  John  H.  Stevens,  Esq.,  of 
Glencoe,  formerly  a  clerk  of  Mr.  Steele's,  in  a  lecture 
before  Hennepin  County  Lyceum,  says  : — "  The  day  he 
landed  at  Fort  Snelling,  the  Indians  had  concluded 
a  treaty  with  the  whites,  by  which  the  St.  Croix  Falls 
were  ceded  to  the  latter.  Mr.  Steele  went  over ;  liked 
the  place  much,  made  a  claim,  hired  a  large  crew  of 
men,  put  Calvin  A.  Tuttle,  Esq.,  now  of  St.  Anthony, 


MR.  FRANKLIN  STEELE  AND  WIFE.  501 

at  their  head,  and  commenced  in  earnest  to  build  mills. 
Upon  being  appointed  sutler  to  the  army  at  Fort  Snel- 
Img,  he  disposed  of  the  St.  Croix  property,  and  became 
interested  on  the  east  side  of  St.  Anthony  Falls.  He 
has  continued  to  make  this  county  his  home  ever  since 
his  first  arrival  m  the  territory.  Mr.  Steele  has  been 
a  good  friend  to  Hennepin,  and  as  most  of  the  citizens 
came  here  poor,  they  never  had  to  ask  Mr.  Steele  a 
second  time  for  a  favour.  Fortune  has  favoured  him, 
and  while  many  a  family  has  reason  to  be  thankful 
for  his  generosity  and  kindness,  he  has  constantly  made 
money." 

Mrs.  Franklin  Steele  is  a  native  of  Maryland,  and 
was  a  Miss  Barney,  a  relative  of  the  naval  officer  whose 
name  is  associated  with  the  glory  of  our  marine.  Com- 
manding in  person,  and  well  educated,  she  has  been 
much  admired  in  society. 

About  the  last  of  May,  1 849,  the  Dahkotahs  of  the  Ka- 
posia  band,  just  below  St.  Paul,  performed  one  of  their 
peculiar  ceremonies.  A  short  distance  from  their  lodges 
they  formed  an  elliptical  enclosure  with  willow  bushes 
stuck  in  the  ground.  In  the  centre  was  placed  a  large 
buffalo  fish  on  some  green  fern,  and  a  cat-fish  on  a  bunch 
of  dry  grass.  A  small  arbour  was  placed  over  the  fish. 
At  one  end  of  the  enclosure  was  a  teej)ee,  in  wliich 
were  men  singing  Hah-yay,  Hah-3'ay,  Hoh,  Hoh,  Hob, 
Hoh-ah.  Soon  six  men  and  three  boys  issued  with  bent 
bodies  and  long,  dishevelled  hair,  who  moved  around 
the  enclosure,  keeping  their  faces  as  much  as  possible 
in  the  direction  of  the  fishes.  Then  a  tall  man,  of 
threescore  years,  painted  entirely  black,  appeared  with 
a  small  hoop  in  each  hand,  walking  "  on  all  fours,"  and 
howling  like  a  bear.     Entering  within  the  enclosure  of 


502  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA 

willow  branches,  he  moved  around  as  if  scenting  some- 
thing. While  thus  occuj)ied,  two  more  made  their 
appearance  smeared  all  over  with  white  clay,  one  repre- 
senting a  grizzly  bear,  the  other,  with  a  tail  suspended 
from  his  breech  cloth,  and  body  bent,  represented  a 
wolf.  The  other  Indians  danced  and  sang  for  two  or 
three  hours,  while  these  men  as  beasts  prowled  around 
the  fishes,  pawing,  snuffing  at  them,  and  then  retreating. 
At  last  one  of  the  bears  crept  up  to  one  of  the  fish,  and, 
after  much  growling,  bit  off  a  piece,  and  went  round  the 
ellipse  chewing.  The  other  bear  then  bit  the  remaining 
fish.  These  signals  caused  all  the  dancers  to  follow, 
and  flesh,  fins,  bones,  and  entrails  were  all  devoured 
without  being  touched  by  the  hands.  The  sacred  men 
also  prayed  to  the  spirits  of  the  fish,  and  the  object  of 
the  feast,  was  supposed  to  be,  to  induce  a  change  of 
weather. 

On  the  first  of  June,  Governor  Ramsey,  by  proclama- 
tion, declared  the  territory  duly  organized,  with  the  fol- 
lowing officers :  Alexander  Ramsey,  of  Pennsylvania, 
Governor;  C.  K.  Smith,  of  Ohio,  Secretary;  A.  Good- 
rich, of  Tennessee,  Chief  Justice ;  D.  Cooper,  of  Penn- 
sylvania, and  B.  B.  Meeker,  of  Kentucky,  Associate 
Judges;  Joshua  L.  Taylor,  Marshal;  H.  L.  Moss,  At- 
torney of  the  United  States.^ 

^ A  Proclamation,  hy  Alexander  Ram-  a  government  was  erected  over  all 

sey.  Governor  of  the  Territory  of  the  country  described  in  said  act  to 

Minnesota.  be  called  "The  Territory  of  Minne- 

TO  ALL  WHOM  IT  MAY  coxcERN.  8ota  ;"   and  whereas   the   following 

Whereas  by  an  act  of  the  Congress  named  officers  have  been  duly  ap- 

of  the   United    States   of  America,  pointed   and   commisssioned    under 

entitled    ^^  An   act   to    establish    the  the  said  act  as  officers  of  said  govern- 

TerritorialGovernmentof Minnesota,"  nient,  viz: 

approved  March  third,  1849,  a  true         Alexander  Ramsey,  Governor  of 

copy   whereof    is    hereto    annexed,  said   Territory,   and  Comraander-in 


JUDGES  GOODRICH,  MEEKER,  AND  COOPER.  503 

On  the  eleventh  of  June,  a  second  proclamation  was 
issued,  dividing  the  territory  into  three  temporary  judi- 
cial districts.  The  first  comprised  the  county  of  St. 
Croix ;  the  county  of  La  Pointe,  and  the  region  north 
and  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  north  of  the  Minnesota, 
and  of  a  line  running  due  west  from  the  headwaters  of 
the  Minnesota  to  the  Missouri  river,  constituted  the 
second ;  and  the  country  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and 
south  of  the  Minnesota,  formed  the  third  district. 
Judge  Goodrich  was  assigned  to  the  first,  Meeker  to  the 
second,  and  Cooper  to  the  third.  A  court  was  ordered 
to  be  held  at  Stillwater  on  the  second  Monday,  at  the 
Falls  of  St.  Anthony  on  the  third,  and  at  Mendota  on 
the  fourth  Monday  of  August. 

On  the  sixth  of  June,  Major  Wood  left  Fort  Snelling, 
charged  with  the  duty  of  making  a  military  examina- 
tion of  the  country  in  the  vicinity  of  Pembina,  in  view 
of  establishing  a  military  post  there.  Captain  Pope,  of 
the  topographical  engineers,  accompanied  the  expedi- 
tion, and  his  report,  published  by  Congress,  is  valuable 

Chief  of   the   Militia  thereof,   and  tively  assumed   the  duties  of  their 

Superintendent    of    Indian     affairs  said  offices  according   to  law,   said 

therein,  territorial    government  is   declared 

Charles  K.    Smith,  Secretary  of  to  be  organized  and  established,  and 

said  territory,  all   persons   are   enjoined   to  obey, 

Aaron    (joudrich,   Chief  Justice,  conform   to,   and  respect  the   laws 

and  David  Cooper  and   Bradley  B.  thereof  accordingly. 

Meeker,  Associate  Justices   of  the  Given  under  my  hand,  and    the 

Supreme  Court  of  said  territory,  and  r          -i  seal  of  said  Territory,  this 

to  act  as  Judges  of  the  District  Court  first  day  of  June,  a.  d.  1849, 

of  said  territory,  and    of   the    Independence  of   tlie 

Joshua  L.  Taylor,  Marshal  of  the  United  States  of  America  the  seventy- 
United  States  for  said  territory,  third. 

Henry  L.  Moss,  Attorney  of  the  By  the  Governor,        Alex.  Ramsky. 

United  States  for  said  territory,  Chas.  K.  Smitu,  Secretary. 

And  said  officers  having  rcspec- 


504  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

in  information,  concerning  the  adaptation  of  the  Red 
Eiver  valley  for  agricultural  purposes. 

Until  the  twenty-sixth  of  June,  Governor  Ramsey 
and  family  had  been  guests  of  Hon.  H.  H.  Sibley,  at 
Mendota.  On  the  afternoon  of  that  day  they  arrived 
at  St.  Paul,  in  a  birch-bark  canoe,  and  became  perma- 
nent residents  at  the  capital.  The  mansion  first  occu- 
pied as  a  gubernatorial  mansion,  is  the  small  frame 
building,  on  Third,  between  Robert  and  Jackson  streets, 
subsequently  known  as  the  New  England  House. 

A  few  days  after,  the  Hon.  H.  M.  Rice  and  family 
moved  from  Mendota  to  St.  Paul,  and  occupied  the  house 
he  had  erected  on  St.  Anthony  street,  near  the  corner 
of  Market. 

On  the  first  of  July,  a  land  office  was  established  at 
Stillwater,  and  A.  Van  Vorhees,  after  a  few  weeks,  be- 
came the  register. 

The  anniversary  of  our  National  Independence,  was 
celebrated  in  a  becoming  manner  at  the  capital.  The 
place  selected  for  the  address,  was  a  grove  that  stood 
on  the  sites  of  the  City  Hall  and  the  Baldwin  School 
Building. 

In  pursuance  of  a  requirement  in  the  organic  act,  the 
sheriff  of  St.  Croix  was  ordered  to  take  a  census  of  all 
inhabitants.^ 

^  The  result  was  as  follows  : — 

Names  of  Places.  Males.    Females.     Total. 

Stillwater, 455  154  609 

Lake  St.  Croix 129  82  211 

Marine  Mills, 142  31  173 

St.  Paul, 540  300  840 

Little  Canada  and  St.  Anthony, 352  219  571 

Crow  Wing  and  Long  Prairie, 235  115  350 

Osakis  Rapids 92  41  133 

Falls  of  St.  Crois, 15  1  16 


GOVERNOR  RAMSEY  RECOGNISES  A  CHIEF.  505 

On  the  seventh  of  July,  a  proclamation  was  issued, 
dividing  the  territory  into  seven  council  districts,  and 
ordering  an  election  to  be  held  on  the  first  day  of 
August,  for  one  delegate  to  represent  the  people  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States,  for  nine 
councillors,  and  eighteen  representatives  to  constitute 
the  Legislative  Assembly  of  Minnesota. 

Shortly  after  his  arrival.  Governor  Ramsey  recognised 
a  new  hereditary  chief  of  the  Wahk-pay-koo-tay  band 
of  Dahkotahs,  named  Wa-min-di-yu-ka-pi,  by  investing 
him  with  a  sword  and  a  soldier's  medal.  He  was  a  fine 
looking  youth,  and  a  few  weeks  after  this  honour  he 
and  seventeen  others  were  slaughtered  in  broad  day- 
light, by  a  party  of  Indians  they  met  near  the  head- 
waters of  the  Des  Moines  river.  The  Dahkotahs  took 
four  scalps,  and  the  citizens  of  St.  Paul,  during  the  quiet 
nights  of  that  summer,  could  hear  the  noise  of  the  scalp 
dance  at  Kaposia. 

Names  of  Places.  Males.     Females.    Total. 

Snake  River 58  24  82 

La  Pointe  County,        12  10  22 

Crow  Wing,        103  71  174 

Biw  Stone  Lake  and  Lac  qui  Parle, 33  35  68 

Little  Rock,        20  15  35 

PrairieviUe,         9  13  22 

Oak  Grove,         14  9  23 

Black  Dog  Village, 7  11  18 

Crow  Wing,  east  e>ide, 35  35  70 

Mendota 72  50  122 

Red  Wing  Village, 20  13  33 

Wabeshaw  and  Root  River, 78  36  114 

Fort  Snelling, 26  12  38 

Soldiers  and  women  and  children  in  forts,      .     .  267  50  317 

Pembina,       295  342  G37 

Missouri  River 49  37  86 

30G7      1713      4G80 


506  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

During  the  latter  part  of  July,  a  band  of  Sissetoan 
Dahkotalis,  near  Big  Stone  Lake,  proceeded  to  a  buffalo 
hunt.  Unsuccessful,  they  were  obliged  to  eat  their  dogs 
and  tipsinna.^  One  day  they  were  startled  by  a  horse- 
man galloping  across  the  plain  in  the  direction  of  their 
camp.  On  his  approach,  they  saw  he  was  a  Red  Kiver 
half-breed,  who  had  formerly  lived  in  their  country.  He 
had  come  to  tell  them  that  the  Ojibways  were  in  the 
neighbourhood,  and  contemplated  an  attack.  The  Dah- 
kotahs  had  just  hid  their  women  and  children  in  holes, 
and  covered  them  with  brush-wood,  when  the  enemy 
came  in  sight.  A  few  of  the  bravest  Dahkotahs  went 
out  to  meet  the  foe,  and  the  fight  commenced  near  a 
rivulet,  in  the  valley  of  the  Cheyenne.  The  leader, 
after  fighting  bravely,  found  himself  surrounded  by  the 
Ojibways,  who  had  concealed  themselves  in  the  grass. 
While  in  the  act  of  raising  his  head  to  draw  the  stopper 
from  his  powder-horn,  he  was  shot  through  the  brain. 
His  little  son,  not  ten  years  of  age,  seeing  his  father 
fall,  rushed  to  the  corpse,  and  after  clasping  it,  he  lay 
by  its  side,  and  fired  at  the  enemy  until  aid  came  from 

'  The  Tipsinna,  or  Dahkotah  tur-  cnce  on    the  tipsinna.     They  eat  it 

nip,  grows  only  in  the  high  and  dry  both   raw   and    cooked.     This    root 

prairie.     It  seeks   the    high    points  has    lately    acquired    a     European 

and  gravelly  hills,  where  it  continues  reputation.     Mr.  Lamare   Picot,  of 

to  grow  in  size  from  year  to  year,  France  has,  within  a  few  years  past, 

increasing  with  every  summer  that  introduced  it  into  his  native  country, 

passes  over  it.     The  root  is  roundish  and  the  Savans  of  Paris,  it  is  said, 

oroval,  and  of  various  sizes,  according  have  given  it  the  name  of  "  Picoti- 

to  its  age.   It  has  a  thick,  hard  rind,  anna."     It  has  been  supposed  that 

which  the  Dahkotah  usually  remove  this  dry  prairie  root  might  yet  take 

with  their  teeth.    During  the  months  an     important     place     among     the 

of  June  and  July,  when  the  top  can  vegetables  which  are  cultivated  for 

be  easil_Y  discovered   in   the   grass,  the  support  of  human  life  ;  but  this 

the  Indians  of  the  Upper  Minnesota  expectation   will    probably   end   in 

depend,  very  much,  for  their  subsist-  disappointment. 


FIRST  ELECTION  IN  MINNESOTA.  507 

the  Dahkotah  camp,  and  his  corpse  was  cared  for  by 
friends.  After  skirmishing  till  dusk,  the  Ojibways  re- 
treated with  three  killed.  The  Dahkotahs  lost  the 
same  number.^ 

In  this  month  the  Hon.  H.  M.  Rice  despatched  a  boat 
laden  with  Indian  goods  from  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony 
to  Crow  Wing,  which  was  towed  by  horses  after  the 
manner  of  a  canal  boat. 

The  election  on  the  first  of  August,  passed  off  with 
little  excitement,  Hon.  H.  H.  Sibley  being  elected 
delegate  to  Congress  without  opposition.^  David  Lam- 
bert, on  what  might,  perhaps,  be  termed  the  old  settlers' 
ticket,  was  defeated  in  St.  Paul,  by  James  McBoal. 
The  latter,  on  the  night  of  the  election,  was  honoured 
with  a  ride  through  town  on  the  axle  and  fore-wheels 
of  an  old  wagon,  which  was  drawn  by  his  admiring, 
but  somewhat  undisciplined  friends. 

J.  L.  Taylor  having  declined  the  office  of  United 
States  Marshal;^  A.  M.  Mitchell,  of  Ohio,  a  graduate  of 

'  Communication  in  Minnesota  Pioneer,  September  19,  1849. 
'  The  vote  in  St.  Paul  was : — 

Delegate  to  Congress, 11.  H.  Sibley, 188 

Councillors W.  11.  Forbes 187 

J.  IMcBoal, 98 

"                  D.  Lambert 91 

House  of  Representatives,       .     .     .  B.  Brunson, 1C8 

....  P.  K.  Johnson 104 

"                    "               ....  11.  Jackson 165 

"                    "                ....  J.  J.  Dewey, 171 

"                     "                .     .     .     .  J.  R.  Brown 84 

"                .     .     .     .  A.  G.  Fuller, 24 

Unsuccessful  in  Italics. 

'  The  following  exhibits  the  result  under  the  counties   into  which  the 

of  the  first  census,  along  with  the  territory  was   subsequently  divided 

vote  cast  for  the  Delegate  to  Congress  by  the  first  Legislature : — 
on  the  first  August,  1849,  arranged 


508  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

West  Point,  and  colonel  of  a  regiment  of  Ohio  volun- 
teers in  Mexico,  was  appointed,  and  arrived  at  the  capi- 
tal early  in  August. 

There  were  three  papers  published  in  the  territory 
soon  after  its  organization.  The  first  was  the  Pioneer,^ 
issued  on  April  twenty-eighth,  1849,  under  most  dis- 
couraging circumstances.  It  was  at  first  the  intention 
of  the  witty  and  reckless  editor  to  have  called  his  paper 
"  The  Epistle  of  St.  Paul."  About  the  same  time  there  was 
issued,  in  Cincinnati,  under  the  auspices  of  the  late  Dr. 
A.  Randall,  of  California,  the  first  number  of  the  Regis- 
ter. The  second  number  of  the  paper  was  printed  at 
St.  Paul,  in  July,  and  the  office  was  on  St.  Anthony, 
between  Washington  and  Market  Streets.-  About  the 
first  of  June,  James  Hughes,  now  of  Hudson,  Wisconsin, 
arrived  with  a  press  and  materials,  and  established  the 
Minnesota  Chronicle.  After  an  existence  of  a  few  weeks 
these  papers  were  discontinued ;  and,  in  their  place,  was 

Co.  Seats.  Counties.  Males.  Females.   A'ote  for  Del. 

St.  Paul,     .     Ramsey, 97(3  564  273 

Stillwater,  .     Washington, 821  291  213 

Sauk  Rapids,  Benton, 249  108  18 

Mendota,    .     Dahkotah,        301  167  75 

Wahnatah, 344  182  70 

Wabashaw,      Wabash  aw, 246  84  33 

Pembina,    .     Pembina, 295  342  — 

Itasca 21  9  — 

Mankato, —  —  — 

3253     1687     682 
1687 

Total  population,  June  30,  1849,       .     .     .     4940 

^  The  press  used  in  printing  the  purchased   in    Cincinnati   in    1836, 

"Pioneer"  is  said  to  have  been  the  and   first  used  in  printing  the  Du- 

first  ever  used  north  of  Missouri,  and  buque   Visitor,  published   by  John 

west    of   the   Mississippi.      It  was  King. 


SESSIONS  OF  THE  FIRST  COURTS.  509 

issued  the  "  Chronicle  and  Register,"  edited  by  Nathaniel 
McLean  and  John  P.  Owens. 

The  first  courts,  pursuant  to  proclamation  of  the 
governor,  were  held  in  the  month  of  August.  At  Still- 
water, the  court  was  organized  on  the  thirteenth  of  the 
month.  Judge  Goodrich  presiding,  and  Judge  Cooper, 
hy  courtesy,  sitting  on  the  bench.  On  the  twentieth, 
the  second  judicial  district  held  a  court.  The  room 
used  was  the  old  government  mill  at  Minneapolis.  The 
presiding  judge  was  B.  B.  Meeker;  the  foreman  of  the 
grand  jury,  Franklin  Steele.  On  the  last  Monday  of 
the  month,  the  court  for  the  third  judicial  district  was 
organized  in  the  large  stone  Avarehouse  of  the  fur  com- 
pany at  Mendota.  The  presiding  judge  was  David 
Cooper.  Governor  Ramsey  sat  on  the  right,  and 
Judge  Goodrich  on  the  left.  Hon.  H.  H.  Sibley  was 
the  foreman  of  the  grand  jury.  As  some  of  the  jurors 
could  not  speak  the  English  language,  W.  H.  Forbes 
acted  as  interpreter.  The  charge  of  Judge  Cooper  was 
lucid,  scholarly,  and  dignified.  At  the  request  of  the 
grand  jury  it  was  afterwards  published. 

R.  G.  Murphey,  the  United  States'  agent  for  the  Dah- 
kotahs,  used  commendable  diligence  during  this  year  in 
checking  the  whiskey  traffic,  and  in  inducing  the  In- 
dians to  renew  their  temperance  pledges.  Under  the 
influence  of  a  vile  class  of  Avhiskey  sellers  that  infested 
the  neighbourhood  of  Avhat  is  now  the  capital  of  Min- 
nesota, the  Dahkotahs,  a  few  years  before  this,  were  a 
nation  of  drunkards.  Men  would  travel  hundreds  of 
miles  to  the  "  place  where  they  sell  Minne-wakan," 
as  they  designated  St.  Paul,  to  traffic  for  a  keg  of 
whiskey.     The  editor  of  the  Dahkotah  Friend  says  : — 

"  Twelve  years  ago  they  bade  fair  soon  to  die,  all  to- 


510  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

gethor,  in  one  drunken  jumble.  They  must  be  drunk — 
they  could  hardly  live  if  they  were  not  drunk.  Many 
of  them  seemed  as  uneasy  when  sober  as  a  fish  does 
when  on  land.  At  some  of  the  villages  they  were  drunk 
months  together.  There  was  no  end  to  it.  They  would 
have  whiskey.  They  would  give  guns,  blankets,  pork, 
lard,  flour,  corn,  coffee,  sugar,  horses,  furs,  traps,  Bnj- 
thing  for  whiskey.  It  was  made  to  drink — it  was  good 
— it  was  wakan.  They  drank  it — they  bit  off"  each 
other's  noses — broke  each  other's  ribs  and  heads — they 
knifed  each  other.  They  killed  one  another  with  guns, 
knives,  hatchets,  clubs,  fire-brands — they  fell  into  the 
fire  and  water,  and  were  burned  to  death  and  drowned 
— they  froze  to  death,  and  committed  suicide  so  fre- 
quently that,  for  a  time,  the  death  of  an  Indian,  in 
some  of  the  ways  mentioned,  was  but  little  thought  of 
by  themselves  or  others.  Some  of  the  earlier  settlers  of 
St.  Paul  and  Pig's  Eye  remember  something  about  these 
matters.  Their  eyes  saw  sights  which  are  not  exhibited 
now-a-days." 

The  reform  was  commenced  through  the  influence  of 
the  missionaries,  Mr.  Sibley,  and  Mr.  Murj)hey's  prede- 
cessor. 

On  one  occasion  Agent  Murphey  met  a  Sissetoan 
Dahkotah,  a  few  miles  above  Mendota,  returning  home 
with  a  supply  of  '"'fire  water."  A  wagon  happening  to 
pass  at  the  time,  he  secured  the  fellow,  and  returned 
with  him  in  the  vehicle  toward  Fort  Snelling;  but,  in 
passing  a  wooded  ravine,  the  Indian,  a  most  active  and 
athletic  man,  succeeded,  by  a  desperate  exertion,  in 
leaping  from  the  wagon,  and,  dashing  into  the  woods, 
made  his  escape.  During  the  summer  a  steamboat 
landed  in  the  night  at  Raymneecha  (Red  Wing),  and  a 


MEETING  OF  FIRST  LEGISLATURE. 


511 


son  of  one  of  the  chiefs,  told  his  liither  that  the  band 
were  obtaining  whiskey  at  the  boat.  The  chief  was  in- 
dignant, and,  awaking  the  Indian  farmer,  he  went  to 
the  landing,  and  told  the  crew  that  he  would  cut  the 
boat  loose  unless  they  immediately  removed. 

On  Monday,  the  third  of  September,  the  first  Legis- 
lative Assembly  convened  in  the  "Central  House,"  a 
building  which  answered  the  double  purpose,  of  capitol 
and  hotel.  On  the  first  floor  of  the  main  building  was 
the  secretary's  office  and  Representative  chamber,  and 
in  the  second  story  was  the  library  and  Council  chamber. 
As  the  flag  was  run  up  the  staff"  m  front  of  the  house, 
a  number  of  Indians  sat  on  a  rocky  bluff"  in  the  vicinity, 
and  gazed  at  what  to  them  w^as  a  novel,  and  perhaps 
saddening  scene;  for  if  the  tide  of  emigration  sweeps 
in  from  the  Pacific  as  it  has  from  the  Atlantic  coast, 
they  must  diminish. 

The  legislature  having  organized,  elected  the  follow- 
ing permanent  officers :  David  Olmsted,  President  of 
Council;^  Joseph  R.  Brown,  Secretary;  H.  A.  Lambert, 
Assistant.  In  the  House  of  Representatives,  Joseph  W. 
Furber  was  elected  Speaker;  W.  D.  Phillips,  Clerk;  L. 
B.  Wait,  Assistant. 

On  Tuesday  afternoon,  both  houses  assembled  in  the 


1  Councillora. 

No.  of  District.        Residence. 

Age. 

Plncc  of  Nativity. 

James  S.  Norris,  . 

.      1      . 

Cottage  Grove,     .     . 

38 

Maine. 

Samuel  Biirkleo,  . 

2 

Stillwater,  .... 

45 

Delaware. 

William  II.  Forbes, 

.     3     . 

St.  Paul,     .... 

38 

Montreal,  C. 

Jamos  McC.  Boal, 

.    :)    . 

.     .     .     . 

38 

Pennsylvania. 

David  B.  Loomis, 

.    4    . 

^larinc  Mills,       .     . 

32 

Connecticut. 

John  Rollins,  .     . 

.    5     . 

Falls  of  St.  Anthony, 

41 

Maine. 

David  Olmsted,     . 

.    6    . 

Long  Prairie,       .     . 

27 

Vermont. 

AVilliam  Sturgcs, 

.     6     . 

Elk  lliver,  .... 

28 

Up.  Canada. 

Martin  McLeod,   . 

.    7    . 

Lac  qui  Parle,     .     . 

3G 

Montreal,  C. 

512 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


(lining  hall  of  the  hotel,  and  after  praj^er  was  offered  hy 
Rev.  E.  D.  Neill,  Governor  Ramsey  delivered  his  mes- 
sage. The  message  was  ably  written,  and  its  perusal 
afforded  satisfaction  at  home  and  abroad. 

The  members  of  the  first  legislature  were  generally 
acquainted  with  each  other  previous  to  their  election, 
and  there  was  but  little  formality  manifested  in  their 
proceedings.  A  child  of  one  of  the  members  having 
died,  the  House  of  Representatives^  adjourned  to  attend 
the  little  one's  funeral.^ 


1  Representatives.              No 

of  District.        Kesidence. 

Age. 

Place  of  Nativity. 

Joseph  W.  Furber,    .     . 

1      . 

Cottage  Grove 

,     .     .    36 

N,  H. 

James  Wells,   .     .     .     . 

1      . 

Lake  Pepin, 

.     .    46 

N.  Jersey. 

M.  S.  Wilkinson,  ,     .     . 

2 

Stillwater, 

.     .    30 

New  York. 

Sylvanus  Trask,   .     .     . 

2    . 

(< 

.     ,    — 

" 

Mablon  Black,      .     .     . 

2     . 

" 

.     .    — 

Ohio. 

Benjamin  W.  Brunson, 

3     . 

St.  Paul,     . 

.     .     25 

Michigan. 

Henry  Jackson,    .     .     . 

3     . 

(( 

.     .    42 

Virginia. 

John  J.  Dewey,     .     .     . 

3     . 

<( 

.     .    — 

New  York. 

Pajrsons  K.  Johnson, 

3     . 

(< 

.     .     — 

Vermont. 

Henry  F.  Setzer,  .     .     . 

4    . 

Snake  River, 

.     .     — 

Missouri. 

William  R.  Marshall,    , 

5     . 

Falls  of  St.  Ar 

ithony,    25 

William  Dugas,    .     .     . 

5     . 

Little  Canada, 

.     .     37 

L.  Canada. 

Jeremiah  Russell, 

6     . 

Crow  Wing, 

.     .     — 

L.  A.  Babcock,     .     .     . 

6     . 

Sauk  Rapids, 

.     .    29 

Vermont. 

Thomas  A.  Holmes, 

6     . 

" 

.     .    44 

Pennsylvania 

Allen  Morrison,    .     .     . 

6     . 

Alexis  Bailly,        .     .     . 

7     . 

Mendota,    . 

.     .    50 

Michigan. 

Gideon  H.  Pond,  .     .     . 

7     . 

Oak  Grove, 

.     .    39 

Connecticut. 

^Extract  from  the  Journal  of  the 
House,  October  fourth,  1849  : — 

Mr.  Wilkinson  offered  the  follow- 
ing :— 

"  Whereas,  by  the  sudden  and 
mysterious  dispensation  of  Provi- 
dence, one  of  our  brother  members 
of  this  house,  has  been  ])ainfully{'!) 
bereaved  by  the  death  of  a  beloved 
member  of  his  family,  and  feeling  a 


deep  sympathy  for  our  worthy 
brother  in  his  bereavment,  therefore 
Resolved,  That  when  this  house 
adjourn,  that  it  adjourn  until  to- 
morrow morning  at  ten  o'clock,  and 
that  the  members  be  requested  by 
the  speaker  to  attend  the  funeral  of 
the  daughter  of  the  Hon.  B.  W. 
Brunson,  at  one  o'clock." 


FIRST  COUNTIES.— RED  PIPE  STONE.  513 

The  first  session  of  the  legislature  adjourned  on  the 
first  of  November.  Among  other  proceedings  of  in- 
terest, was  the  creation  of  the  following  counties: 
Itasca,  Waubashaw,  Dahkotah,  Wahnahtah,  Mahkahto, 
Pembina,  Washington,  Ramsey,  and  Benton.  The 
three  latter  counties  comprised  the  country  that  up  to 
that  time  had  been  ceded  by  the  Indians  on  the  east 
side  of  the  Mississippi.  Stillwater  was  declared  the 
county  seat  of  Washington ;  St.  Paul,  of  Ramsey;  "and 
the  seat  of  justice  of  the  county  of  Benton,  was  to  be 
within  one-quarter  of  a  mile  of  a  point  on  the  east  side 
of  the  Mississippi,  directly  opposite  the  mouth  of  Sauk 
river." 

The  day  of  elections  after  the  year  1849,  was  ap- 
pointed to  be  on  the  first  of  September. 

A  warm  interest  was  manifested  in  the  common 
school  system,  and  an  able  report  on  the  subject  was 
made  to  the  Council  by  the  Hon.  M.  McLeod,  chairman 
of  the  committee. 

A  joint  resolution  was  passed,  ordering  a  slab  of  the 
red  pipe  stone  to  be  forwarded  to  the  Washington 
Monument  Association.^ 

^  Mr.  McLeod  submitted  the  fol-  Association,  to  the  effect  that  a  por« 
lowing  communication  from  the  Hon.  tion  of  rock  from  each  state,  would 
Henry  11.  Sibley,  which  be  received  to  be  used  in  the  con- 
On  motion  of  Mr.  McLeod,  was  struction  of  the  monument,  has 
ordered  to  be  read  and  entered  on  caused  to  be  procured  from  the 
the  minutes  of  the  council : —  quarry,   about  two   hundred   miles 

distant,  a  specimen  of  the  Red  or 

Men'dota,  Sept.  11,  1849.  Pipe  stone,  which  is  peculiar  to  our 

To  Vie   Honourable,  the   Legislative  territory,  to  be   proffered   for  that 

Council  of  Minnesota  Territory:  purpose.     Believing  it  to  be  meet 

The  undersigned   having  seen  a  and  proper  that  Minnesota  should 

notice  in  the  public  journals  some  not  be  backward  in  her  contribution 

time   since,  signed  by  the   general  to  a  work  which  is  intended  to  per- 

agent  of  the  Washington  Monument  petuate  the  memory  of  the  "  Father 

33 


514 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


The  stone  for  ages  lias  been  used  by  the  Dahkotahs 
and  other  tribes  for  the  manufacture  of  pipes,  and  is 
esteemed  "  wakan."  In  the  State  Cabinet  of  Albany 
there  is  a  very  ancient  pipe  of  this  material,  which  was 
obtained  in  the  Seneca  country,  and  the  tradition  is 
that  it  was  taken  fi'om  the  Dahkotahs. 

Charlevoix,  in  his  History  of  New  France,  speaking 
of  the  pipe  of  peace,  says :  "  It  is  ordinarily  made  of  a 
species  of  red  marble,  very  easily  worked,  and  found 
beyond  the  Mississippi  among  the  Aaiouez  (loways)." 
Le  Sueur  speaks  of  the  Yanktons,  as  the  village  of  the 
Dahkotahs  at  the  Red  Stone-quarry.  It  is  asserted  that 
in  days  gone  by  hostile  nations  used  to  assemble  at  this 
quarry,  and  obtain  the  material  for  pipes  without  mo- 


of  his  Country,"  and  that  the  offer- 
ing should  be  that  of  the  constituted 
authorities  of  the  territory,  rather 
than  the  act  of  a  private  individual, 
I  have  hereby  the  honour  to  present 
the  specimen  of  rock  to  your  honour- 
able body,  for  your  acceptance,  to 
be  disposed  of  in  such  manner  as 
your  -wisdom  may  suggest. 

The  slab  is  about  two  and  a  half 
feet  in  length,  and  a  little  over  one 
and  a  half  in  breadth,  and  two  inches 
in  thickness.  In  the  last  particular 
it  does  not  meet  the  requirements  of 
the  Association  ;  but,  apart  from  the 
impracticability  of  transporting  a 
huge  mass  of  stone,  weighing  nearly, 
if  not  quite,  half  a  ton,  if  of  the  di- 
mensions stated,  to  so  remote  a  point 
as  Washington  City,  it  is  known 
that  the  strata  of  pipe  stone  rarely, 
if  ever,  exceed  three  inches  in  thick- 
ness. In  length  and  breadth,  it  is 
believed,  the  specimen  will  come  up 


to  the  standard,  and  can  be  so  used 
as  to  face  a  solid  block  of  granite  or 
other  material,  and  thus  answer  the 
proposed  end. 

In  conclusion,  I  would  beg  leave 
to  state,  that  a  late  geological  work 
of  high  authority,  by  Dr.  Jackson, 
designates  this  formation  as  Catli- 
nite,  upon  the  erroneous  supposition 
that  Mr.  George  Catlin  was  the  first 
white  man  who  had  ever  visited  that 
region ;  whereas,  it  is  notorious  that 
many  whites  had  been  there  and 
examined  the  quarry  long  before  he 
came  to  the  country.  This  designa- 
tion is  therefore  clearly  improper 
and  unjust.  The  Sioux  term  fur  the 
stone  is  Eyanskah,  by  which,  I  con- 
ceive, it  should  be  known  and  classi- 
fied. 

I  have  the  honour  to  be, 
Very  respectfully. 

Your  obedient  servant, 
H.  H,  Sibley. 


RED  PIPE  STONE  QUARRY  DESCRIBED. 


515 


lestation.  Whether  facts  will  sustain  the  tradition  may 
be  doubtful. 

The  first  canto  of  the  "  Song  of  Hiawatha"  gives  an 
impressive  picture  of  the  conclave  of  natives  at  "  the 
great  Red  Pipe  Stone  Quarry."^ 

Nicollet,  in  his  admirable  report,  remarks :  "  This 
red  pipe  stone,  not  more  interesting  to  the  Indian  than 
it  is  to  the  man  of  science,  by  its  unique  character,  de- 
serves a  particular  description.  In  the  quarrj'  of  it 
which  I  had  opened,  the  thickness  of  the  bed  is  one 
foot  and  a  half,  the  upper  portion  of  which  separates  in 
thin  slabs,  whilst  the  lower  ones  are  more  compact.  As 
a  mineralogical  species  it  may  be  described  as  follows : 
compact;  structure,  slaty ;  receiving  a  dull  polish;  having 
a  red  streak ;  colour,  blood  red,  with  dots  of  a  fainter 
shade  of  the  same  colour;  fracture,  rough;  sextile,  fat, 
somewhat  greasy ;  hardness,  not  yielding  to  the  nail ; 


1 "  Down  the  rivers,  o'er  the  prairies, 
Came  the  warriors  of  the  nations, 
Came  the  Delawares  and  Mohawks, 
Came  the  Choctaws  and  Camanches, 
Came  the  Shoshonies  and  Blackfeet, 
Came  the  Pawnees  and  Omahaws, 
Came  the  Mandans  and  Dacotahs, 
Came  the  Huron  and  Ojibways, 
All  the  warriors  drawn  together, 
By  the  signal  of  the  Peace-Pipe, 
To  the  mountains  of  the  prairie. 
To  the  great  Red  Pipe  Stone  Quarry. 
***** 

Gitche  Manito,  the  mighty, 
The  creator  of  the  nations, 
Looked  upon  them  with  compassion, 
With  paternal  lore  and  pity ; 

***** 

Spake  to  them  with  voice  majestic 
As  the  sound  of  far  off  waters, 
***** 

0  mjt children!  my  poor  children! 
Listen  to  the  words  of  wisdom. 
Listen  to  the  words  of  warning. 
From  the  lips  of  the  Great  Spirit, 

From  the  Master  of  Life,  who  made  you; 

1  have  given  you  lands  to  bunt  in, 


I  have  given  you  streams  to  fish  in, 
I  have  given  you  l)ear  and  bison, 
I  have  given  you  roe  and  reindeer, 
I  have  given  you  brant  and  beaver. 
Filling  the  marshes  full  of  wild  fowl, 
Filled  the  rivers  full  of  fishes; 
Why  then  are  you  not  contented  ? 
Why  then  will  you  hunt  each  other? 
I  am  weary  of  your  quarrels, 
Weary  of  your  wars  and  bloods-hed, 
Weary  of  your  prayers  for  vengeance. 
Of  your  wranglings  and  dissensions; 
All  your  strength  is  iu  your  union, 
All  your  danger  is  in  discord; 
Therefore  be  at  peace  henceforward. 
And  as  brothers  live  together. 
Bathe  now  in  the  stream  before  you. 
Wash  the  war  paint  from  your  faces, 
Wash  the  blood  stains  from  your  finiters, 
Bury  your  war  clubs  and  your  weapons. 
Break  the  red  stone  from  this  qvinrrj-. 
Mould  and  make  it  into  peace-pipes. 
Take  the  reeds  that  gniw  beside  you, 
Deck  them  with  your  brightest  feathers, 
Smoke  the  calumet  together. 
And  a£  brothers  live  henceforward!" 


51G  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

not  scratched  by  selenite,  but  easily  by  calcareous  spar; 
specific  gravity,  2.90.  The  acids  have  no  action  upon 
it;  before  the  blow-pipe  it  is  infusible,  jt?er  se ;  but  with 
borax  gives  a  green  glass." 

The  committee  on  seal  recommended  as  a  device  an 
Indian  family,  with  lodge  and  canoe,  encamped,  a  single 
white  man  visiting  them,  and  receiving  from  them  the 
calumet  of  peace.  The  report  was  accepted,  and  the 
committee  discharged.  During  the  following  winter, 
Governor  Ramsey  and  the  delegate  to  Congress  devised 
at  Washington  the  territorial  seal.  The  design  was: 
Falls  of  St.  Anthony  in  the  distance;  an  emigrant 
ploughing  the  land  on  the  borders  of  the  Indian  coun- 
try, full  of  hope,  and  looking  forward  to  the  possession 
of  the  hunting-grounds  beyond.  An  Indian,  amazed 
at  the  sight  of  the  plough,  and  fleeing  on  horseback 
towards  the  setting  sun. 

The  motto  is,  "  Quo  sursum  volo  videre,"  I  wish  to 
look  be^^ond ;  indicative  of  the  disjDOsition  of  the  pio- 
neer to  be  constantly  pushing  into  an  unsettled  coun- 
try. By  mistake  of  the  engraver,  the  original  seal  of 
state  reads  Quo  sursum  velo  videre ;  and  for  two  or 
three  years  it  puzzled  all  Latin  scholars  to  translate  it 
for  their  own  comprehension,  or  that  of  the  "vulgum 
pecus." 

The  Historical  Society,  in  their  publication  for  the 
year  1856,  had  an  engraving  of  the  seal  with  the  motto 
correctly  spelled ;  and  since  then  the  difficulty  has  been 
rectified  to  some  extent. 

The  wife  of  Captain  S.  Eastman,  who  was  formerly 
in  command  of  Fort  Snelling,  a  lady  of  fine  literary 
qualifications,  who,  with  her  husband,  has  done  more 
than  any  one  to  illustrate  Dahkotah-land  and  Dahko- 


EFFORT  TO  EXTINGUISH  INDIAN  TITLE. 


517 


tall-life,  prepared  a  poem  on  the  "  Seal  of  Minnesota," 
about  the  time  it  was  designed.^ 

When  the  Territory  of  Minnesota  was  organized,  the 
Indian  title  had  been  extinguished  to  but  a  small  por- 
tion of  the  country.  The  ceded  region  was  chiefly  east 
of  the  Mississippi,  being  bounded  on  the  north  by  a 
line  extending  east  from  the  mouth  of  the  Crow  Wing 
river  to  the  western  boundary  line  of  Wisconsin.  The 
lands  above  were  occupied  by  the  Ojibways. 

It  therefore  seemed  very  desirable  to  make  room  for 
the  rushing  emigration  to  procure  the  right  of  occu- 
pancy to  the  lands  in  possession  of  the  Dahkotahs  west 


1  Give  way,  give  way,  young  warrior, 

Thou  and  thy  steed  give  way — 
Rest  not,  though  lingers  on  the  hills 

The  red  sun's  parting  ray. 
The  rocky  bluff  and  prairie  land 

Tlie  white  man  claims  them  now. 
The  symbols  of  his  course  are  here, 

The  rifle,  axe,  and  plough. 

Not  thine,  the  waters  bright  whose  laugh 

Is  ringing  in  thy  ear; 
Xot  thine  the  otter  and  the  lynx. 

The  wolf  and  timid  deer. 
The  forest  tree,  the  fairy  ring, 

The  sacred  isle  and  mound 
Have  passed  into  another's  hands — 

Another  claimant  found. 


Give  way,  give  way,  young  warrior, 

Thy  father's  bones  may  rest 
No  longer  here,  where  earth  has  clasped 

Them,  closely  to  her  breast — 
Here,  were  thy  fieroest  battles  fought — 

Here,  through  the  valleys  rung 
The  voices  of  the  victors  bruve, 

As  they  their  triumph  sun;;. 

Here,  too,  with  long  and  braided  hair, 

Thy  maidens  in  the  dance 
Rivalled  the  wild  deer's  tleetest  step, 

The  wild  deer's  brightest  glance. 
And  here  they  gathered  oft  at  eve 

From  aged  lips  to  hear 
How  flowed  the  warrior's  heart's  best  blood, 

How  fell  the  maiden's  tear. 


Give  way,  give  way,  young  warrior— 

Our  title  would  you  seek? 
'Tis  "  the  rich  against  the  poor, 

And  the  strong  against  the  weak." 
We  need  thy  noble  rivers, 

Thy  prairies  green  and  wide, 
And  thy  dark  and  frowning  forests 

That  skirt  the  valley's  side. 

The  red  man's  course  ia  onward — 

Nor  stayed  his  footsteps  be. 
Till  by  his  rugged  hunting  ground 

Beats  the  relentless  sea ! 
We  claim  bis  noble  heritage, 

And  Minnesota's  land 
Must  pass  with  all  its  untold  wealth 

To  the  white  man's  grasping  huud. 


Give  way — I  know  a  thousand  ties 

Most  lovingly  must  cling, 
I  know  a  gu.sh  of  sorrow  deep 

Such  memories  must  bring. 
Thou  and  thy  noble  race  from  earth 

Must  soon  bo  passed  away, 
As  echoes  die  upon  the  hills. 

Or  darkness  follows  day. 

Yet  hear  me  still,  young  warrior. 

Thou  and  thy  steed  give  way — 
Rest  not,  though  lingers  on  the  hills 

The  red  sun's  parting  ray. 
The  rocky  bluff  nnd  prairie  land 

The  white  man  cluims  them  now, 
The  symlxjls  of  his  course  are  here— 

The  rifle,  axe,  and  plough. 


518  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

of  the  Mississippi,  and  in  the  valley  of  the  Minnesota. 
Governor  Ramsey  and  Ex-Governor  Chambers  of  Iowa 
were  appointed  Commissioners  to  treat  with  the  Dahko- 
tahs.  They  repaired  to  Mendota  during  the  session  of 
the  legislature;  but  in  consequence  of  the  absence  of 
many  Indians  on  their  fall  hunt,  and  other  circum- 
stances, they  did  not  wholly  comply  with  their  instruc- 
tions. They  however  made  a  treaty  for  the  purchase 
of  what  is  known  as  the  half-breed  tract  of  Lake  Pepin. 
Previous  to  the  session  of  the  legislature,  there  had 
been  no  organization  of  any  political  party  in  the  ter- 
ritory. On  the  evening  of  September  twenty-fourth,  a 
Democratic  caucus  was  held  at  the  house  of  H.  M.  Rice, 
at  St.  Paul,  on  St.  Anthony  near  Market  street,  and  it 
was  determined  to  call  a  mass  meeting  of  Democrats. 
On  October  twentieth,^  the  first  party  convention  assem- 
bled in  the  ball-room  of  the  American  House.  Henry 
Jackson  was  Chairman,  pro  tem.,  and  as  permanent 
officers  were  chosen  James  S.  Norris,  President;  John 

A.  Ford,    S.   Trask,  W.   Dugas,  H.  N.  Setzer,  James 
Wells,  John  Rollins,  and  A.  Morrison,  Vice-Presidents ; 

B.  W.  Lott,  A.  Larpenteur,  H.  A.  Lambert,  and  John 
Morgan,  Secretaries.     The  Minnesota  Pioneer  was  de- 

^  "  At  a  Democratic  caucus  held  at  in  all  parts  of  the  territory,  to  as- 

the  house  of  Henry  M.  Rice,  on  Mon-  semble  in  mass  meeting  at  St.  Paul, 

day    evening,     September    twenty-  on  Saturday,  the  twentieth  day  of 

fourth,  1849,  the  undersigned  were  October,  to  take  measures  to  secure 

appointed  a  committee  to  call  a  Mass  a  permanent  and  thorough  organiza- 

Meeting  of  the   Democracy  of  the  tion. 
Territory  of  Minnesota.  W.  D.  Phillips,  3d  Dist. 

"  Believing  that  the  safety  and  inte-  .John  Rollins,    5th   " 

grity  of  our  party,  and  the  perma-  J.  S.  Norris,       Ist    " 

nent  interests  of  our  infant  territory,  S.  Trask,  2d     " 

demand  that  the  party  lines  be  hence-  H.  N.  Setzer,      4th   " 

forth  drawn,  we  extend  a  cordial  in-  T.  A.  Holmes,     6th   "   " 

vitation  to  our  Democratic  brethren 


DEATH  OF  DAVID  LAMBERT. 


519 


clared  to  be  the  organ  of  the  party,  and  from  that  period 
there  was  manifest  a  different  spirit  in  the  conduct  of 
pubUc  affairs. 

On  Friday  evening,  David  Lambert,  Esq.,  who  had  been 
prominent  in  the  meetings  that  led  to  the  organization 
of  the  territory,  under  the  influence  of  that  mania,  which 
hurries  so  many  of  our  pubhc  men  to  the  grave,  jumped 
from  a  steamer,  on  which  he  was  returning  from  Galena, 
and  was  drowned.^ 

During  the  session  of  the  legislature,  considerable  dis- 
cussion arose  in  relation  to  the  right  of  the  territory,  to 
expend  the  twenty  thousand  dollars  appropriated  in  the 
organic  act  for  a  capitol,  at  the  temporary  scat  of  govern- 
ment. Joseph  R.  Brown,  desiring  information,  wrote  to 
the  secretary  of  the  treasury,  who  decided  that  the 
money  could  only  be  appropriated  at  the  permanent 
seat  of  government.^ 


^  His  friend,  the  editor  of  the 
Pioneer,  in  his  paper  of  November 
eighth  says : 

"  Mr.  Lambert  was  about  thirty 
years  of  age,  was  prosperous  in 
business,  and  acknowledged  to  be  a 
man  of  superior  abilities.  He  had 
suffered  some  wounds  in  his  domestic 
relations,  which  made  him  misan- 
thropic, reckless,  and  miserable.  We 
should  characterize  him  as  a  man 
of  very  remarkable  conversational 
talent,  and  when  he  devoted  himself 
to  literary  pursuits  he  was  considered 
a  very  promising  writer.  Mr.  L. 
graduated  at  Washington  (Trinity) 
College,  Hartford,  Ct.  He  published 
a  newspaper  at  Little  Rock,  Ark., 
and,  afterwards  published  the  Wis- 
consin Inquirer  at  Madison." 


^  Treascry  Department, 

Oct.  30,  1849. 

Sir : — Your  letter  of  the  eleventh 
inst.,  is  received,  inquiring  whether 
"  the  twenty  thousand  dollars  appro- 
priated for  the  erection  of  public 
buildings  in  Minnesota  can  be  ex- 
pended previous  to  the  location  of 
the  permanent  seat  of  government 
by  a  vote  of  the  people  ?" 

It  is  provided  by  the  thirteenth 
section  of  the  act  to  establish  the 
territorial  government  of  Minnesota, 
approved  third  of  March,  1849,  that 
the  Governor  and  Legislative  Assem- 
bly shall,  at  such  time  as  they  shall 
see  proper,  prescribe  by  law,  the 
manner  of  locating  the  permanent 
seat  of  government  of  said  territory 
by  a  vote  of  the  people.     "  And  the 


520 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


On  the  fourth  Monday  of  November,  the  elections  for 
the  officers  of  the  new  counties  took  place/ 

In  the  month  of  November,  the  first  meeting  in  rela- 
tion to  the  establishment  of  public  schools,  was  held  in 
the  small  school-house  that  stood  on  St.  Anthony  street, 
near  the  First  Presbyterian  Church.  Previous  to  this, 
the  English  schools,  in  the  white  settlements,  had  chiefly 
been  taught  by  teachers  who  had  been  sent  out  by  the 
National  Society  of  Popular  Education :  Misses  Bishop 
and  Scofield  having  taught  at  St.  Paul,  Miss  A.  Hos- 
ford^  at  Stillwater,  and  Miss  Backus  at  St.  Anthony. 


sum  of  twenty  thousand  dollars  out 
of  any  money  in  the  treasury  not 
otherwise  appropriated,  is  hereby 
appropriated  and  granted  to  said 
Territory  of  Minnesota,  to  be  applied 
by  the  Governor  and  Legislative 
Assembly  to  the  erection  of  suitable 
public  buildings  at  the  seat  of  go- 
vernment." 

In  view  of  the  antecedent,  and 
the  object  of  this  appropriation,  the 
Department  cannot  doubt  that  the 
public    buildings   in   question,   can 

^  The  vote  in  Ramsey  county  was  as  follows  : 


Register, 
Sheriff,  . 


only  be  erected  at  the  permanent 
seat  of  government,  located  as  pre- 
scribed. Of  course  the  reply  to 
your  inquiry  must  be,  that  nothing 
can  be  expended  from  this  appropri- 
ation until  after  the  location  shall 
be  duly  made. 

Very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  scrvcant, 

AV.  M.  Meredith, 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 
Joseph  R.  Brown, 
St.  Paul,  M.  T. 


Treasurer, 
Commissioners, 


Judge  of  Probate, 


2  Mrs.  11.  L.  Moss. 


St,  Anthony. 

St.  Paul. 

Total 

Day,      .     . 

.     39 

172 

211 

Phillips,     . 

.    30 

69 

99 

Lull,      .     . 

.    17 

172 

189 

Irvine,  .     . 

.    33 

60 

93 

Brisette,     . 

.     19 

2 

21 

Simpson,    . 

.     G9 

240 

309 

Roberts,     . 

.    57 

202 

259 

Godfrey,     . 

.     19 

123 

142 

Gervais, 

.     31 

167 

198 

Banfill,       . 

.    37 

70 

107 

Russell, 

.    54 

108 

162 

Lambert,    . 

.    34 

149 

183 

Lott,      .     . 

.    33 

93 

126 

ST.  ANTHONY  LIBRARY  ASSOCIATION.  521 

In  the  month  of  December,  the  St.  Anthony  Lil^raiy 
Association,  Avhich  had  been  incorporated  by  the  legis- 
lature, commenced  a  series  of  lectures.  The  intro- 
ductory was  delivered  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Neill,  and  part 
of  it  was  published,  as  a  supplement,  in  the  annals  of 
the  Historical  Society  for  1850.  Among  other  lecturers, 
were  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gear,  Chaplain  of  Fort  Snelling,  and 
Wm.  R.  Marshall,  Esq.  The  association  was  the.  first 
institution  of  the  kind,  excepting  the  Historical  Society, 
in  Minnesota;  and  had  a  small  library  of  valuable 
standard  works. 


522 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


CHAPTER   XXIIL 


By  the  active  exertions  of  the  secretary  of  the  terri- 
tory, C.  K.  Smith,  Esq.,  the  Historical  Society  of  Min- 
nesota ^  was  incorporated  at  the  first  session  of  the  legis- 


^  The  Chronicle  and  Register  of 
January  fifth,  1850,  has  the  following 
editorial : — 

"  The  first  public  exercises  of  the 
Minnesota  Historical  Society,  took 
place  at  the  Methodist  Church,  St. 
Paul,  on  the  first  inst.,  and  passed 
off  highly  creditably  to  all  concerned. 
The  day  was  pleasant,  and  the  at- 
tendance large.  At  the  appointed 
hour, — the  President  and  both  Vice- 
Presidents  of  the  society  being  ab- 
sent; on  motion  of  lion.  C.  K.  Smith, 
Hon.  Chief  Justice  Goodrich  was 
called  to  the  chair.  The  same  gen- 
tleman then  moved  that  a  committee, 
consisting  of  Messrs.  Parsons  K. 
Johnson,  John  A.  Wakefield,  and 
B.  W.  Brunson,  be  appointed  to 
wait  upon  the  Orator  of  the  day. 
Rev.  Mr.  Neill,  and  inform  him  that 
the  audience  was  in  waiting  to  hear 
his  address. 

"  Mr.  Neill  was  shortly  conducted 
to  the  pulpit ;  and  after  an  eloquent 
and  appropriate  prayer  by  the  Rev. 


Mr.  Parsons,  and  music  by  the  band, 
he  proceeded  to  deliver  his  discourse 
upon  the  early  French  Missionaries 
and  voyageurs  into  Minnesota.  It 
was  a  highly  creditable  production  ; 
and  we  hope  the  society  will  provide 
for  its  puVjlication  at  an  early  day. 
In  truthfulness  to  history — candour 
and  liberality  of  sentiment — and 
strength,  and  beauty  of  composition, 
it  commended  itself  to  all  present. 

"  After  some  brief  remarks  by 
Rev.  Mr.  Ilobart,  upon  the  objects 
and  ends  of  history,  the  ceremonies 
were  concluded  with  a  prayer  by 
that  gentleman.  The  audience  dis- 
persed highly  delighted  with  all  that 
occurred. 

"  The  occasion  owed  much  of  its 
interest  to  the  presence  of  the  far- 
famed  '  Sixth  Infantry  Band,'  now 
stationed  at  Fort  Snelling.  They 
'  discoursed  most  eloquent  music'  at 
appropriate  intervals  throughout  the 
exercises.  We  have  never  heard  a 
band  anywhere  that  appeared  more 


NEWSPAPER  CARRIERS'  ADDRESS.  523 

lature.  The  opening  annual  address  was  delivered  in 
the  Methodist  church  at  St.  Paul,  on  the  first  of  Janu- 
ary, 1850. 

At  this  early  period  the  Minnesota  Pioneer  issued  a 
Carrier's  New  Year's  Address,  which  was  amusing  dog- 
gerel. The  reference  to  the  future  greatness  and  igno- 
ble origin  of  the  capital  of  Minnesota  is  as  follows : — 

The  cities  on  this  river  must  be  three,  The  workshop  of  the  nation  it  shall  he. 

Two  that  are  built  and  one  that  is  to  be.  Propelled  by  this  wide  stream,  you'll  see 

One,  is  the  mart  of  all  the  tropics  yield ;  A  thousand  factories  at  St.  Anthony : 

The  cane,  the  orange,  and  the  cotton-field ;  And  the  St.  Croix  a  hundred  mills  shall  diive, 

.\nd  sends  her  ships  abroad  and  boasts  And  all  its  smiling  villages  shall  thrive; 

Her  trade  extended  to  a  thousand  coasts;  But  then  mr/  town — remember  that  high  bench 

The  other,  central  for  the  temperate  zone,  ^yith  cabins  scattered  over  it,  of  French? 

Garners  the  stores  that  on  the  plains  are  grown ;  A  man  named  Henry  Jackson  's  living  there, 

A  place  where  steamboats  from  all  quarters,  Also  a  man — why  every  one  knows  L.  Robair ; 

range.  Below  Fort  SnoUing,  seven  miles  or  so. 

To  meet  and  speculate,  as  'twere  on  'change.  And  three  above  the  village  of  Old  Crow  ? 

The  </a'rd  tt'ifl  6e,  where  rivers  confluent  flow  Pig's  Eye?     Yes;  Pig's  Eye!     That's  the  spot ! 

From  the  wide  spreading  north  through  plains  A  very  funny  name;  is't  not? 

of  snow ;  Pig's  Eye  's  the  spot,  to  plant  my  city  on. 

The  mart  of  all  that  boundless  forests  give  To  be  remembered  by,  when  I  am  gone. 

To  make  mankind  more  comfortably  live,  Pig's  Eye,  converted  thou  shalt  be,  like  Saul: 

The  land  of  manufacturing  indu.stry,  Thy  name  henceforth  shall  be  St.  Paul. 

On  the  evening  of  New  Year's  day,  at  Fort  Snelling, 
there  was  an  assemblage  which  is  only  seen  on  the  out- 
posts of  civilization.  In  one  of  the  stone  edifices 
belonging  to  the  United  States  there  resided  an  unas- 
suming gentleman  of  integrity  who  had  dwelt  in  Min- 
nesota since  the  year  1819,  and  for  many  years  had 
been  in  the  employ  of  the  government.  In  youth  he 
had  been  a  member  of  the  Columbia  Fur  Compan}^,  and 
conforming  to  the  habits  of  traders,  had  purchased  a 
Dahkotah  wife  who  was  wholly  ignorant  of  the  English 

complete  masters  of  their  profession,  be  carried  forward  energetically,  and 

the    celebrated     Styermarkich    not  its   good   results   will    bo   felt   and 

excepted.  appreciated  by  generations  that  will 

"  The  Society  has  made  a  most  occupy  our  place  centuries  to  come." 
aus})iciou9   commencement.     Let  it 


524  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

language.  As  a  family  of  children  gathered  around 
him  he  recognised  the  relation  of  husband  and  father, 
and  conscientiously  discharged  his  duties  as  a  parent. 
His  daughter  at  a  proper  age  was  sent  to  a  boarding- 
school  of  some  celebrity,  and  on  the  night  referred  to 
was  married  to  an  intelligent  young  American  farmer. 
Among  the  guests  present  were  the  officers  of  the  garri- 
son in  full  uniform,  with  their  wives,  the  United  States 
Agent  for  the  Dahkotahs,  and  family,  the  bois  brules  of 
the  neighbourhood,  and  the  Indian  relatives  of  the 
mother.  The  mother  did  not  make  her  appearance, 
but,  as  the  minister  proceeded  with  the  ceremony,  the 
Dahkotah  relatives,  wrapped  in  their  blankets,  gathered 
in  the  hall  and  looked  in  through  the  door. 

The  marriage  feast  was  worthy  of  the  occasion.  In 
consequence  of  the  numbers,  the  officers  and  those  of 
European  extraction  partook  first ;  then  the  bois  brules 
of  Ojibway  and  Dahkotah  descent;  and,  finally,  the 
native  Americans,  who  did  ample  justice  to  the  plenti- 
ful supply  spread  before  them. 

The  union  has  been  blessed,  and  the  bride,  now  a 
mother,  in  the  fear  of  God,  is  training  up  her  little  ones, 
who  bid  fair  to  be  useful  and  industrious  citizens. 

Until  the  close  of  the  year  1849  the  only  roadway 
in  winter  to  the  settlements  of  Wisconsin  and  Iowa 
was  the  ice  of  the  Mississippi.  Late  in  December,  after 
five  weeks'  work,  a  road  was  marked  out  from  Prairie  du 
Chien  to  Hudson,  Wisconsin,  and  the  hauling  of  supplies 
by  land  was  commenced.     The  mail  service  ^  during  the 

*  Proposals  for  carrying  mail  in  By  Lake  St.  Croix,  Xelson's  Land- 
Minnesota,  1850  : —  ing,  La  Cross,  Wis.,  and  Lansing; 
From  St.  Paul  at  6  a.  si.,  once  a  To  Prairie  du  Chien  by  6  p.  m,  next 

week,  Monday  :  Sunday,  270  miles ; 


FIRST  TRIAL  FOR  MURDER.  525 

year  1850  was  very  meagre.  The  first  murder  case  was 
brought  before  Judge  Cooper,  at  the  February  term  of 
the  court,  at  Stillwater. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  twelfth  of  September,  a  num- 
ber of  boys  were  playing  on  the  bluff  in  St.  Paul,  near 
the  corner  of  St.  Anthony  and  Franklin  streets,  oppo- 
site the  stone  block,  now  occupied  by  the  carpet  rooms 
of  0.  King.  One  of  the  number,  Isaiah  McMillan,  see- 
ing another,  by  the  name  of  Heman  Snow,  approaching 
with  a  press-board  before  his  face,  said  he  would  shoot 
him,  and  taking  aim  with  a  gun,  he  had  in  his  hands, 
fired.  The  shot  entered  the  right  eye  and  left  cheek 
of  Snow,  who  was  a  lad  about  twelve  years  of  age,  and 
after  a  few  hours  he  expired.  The  counsel  for  the  prose- 
cution were  Messrs.  Bishop  and  Wilkinson,  and  for  the 
defendent  Messrs.  Ames  and  Moss.  From  the  testi- 
mony adduced,  it  was  not  clear  that  there  was  malice 
prepense,  and  the  jury  brought  in  a  verdict  of  man- 
slaughter, with  a  recommendation  that  the  court  would 
inflict  the  least  possible  penalty  under  the  law.  The 
boy  was  sentenced  to  one  year's  imprisonment.  As 
there  was  no  prison  in  which  to  confine  him,  he  was 
sent  up  to  Fort  Snelling,  and  subsisted  at  the  expense 
of  the  soldiers,  and  by  permission  of  the  colonel,  was 

And  back  between  G  a.  m.  Monday  of  departure  and  arrival,  ■will  be 

and  G  p.  m.  nest  Sunday.  considered. 

Proposals  for  more  frequent  supply  From  St.  Paul  at  G  a.  m.,  once  a 

will  be  considered.  week,  Monday  ; 

From  St.  Paul  at  G  a.  m.,  once  a  By  Stillwater  and  Marine  Mills ; 

week,  Monday ;  To  Falls  of  St.  Croix  by  12  m.  next 

To  Fort  Snelling  by  8  a.  m.,  G  miles  ;  day,  49  miles  ; 

And    back    between    10   a.  m.  and  And  back  between  2  p.  m.  Tuesday 

12  M.  and  G  p.  m.  next  day  ; 

Proposals  for  more  frequent  supply,  With    one    additional    weekly  trip 

stating  the  number  of  trips,  times  from  St.  Paul  to  Stillwater. 


52G  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

occasionally  allowed  to  make  himself  useful  by  sawing 
wood. 

In  the  month  of  April,  there  was  a  renewal  of  hostili- 
ties between  the  Dahkotahs  and  Ojibways,  on  lands  that 
had  been  ceded  to  the  United  States.  A  war  prophet 
at  Red  Wing,  dreamed  that  he  ought  to  raise  a  Avar 
party.  Announcing  the  fact,  a  number  expressed  their 
willingness  to  go  on  such  an  expedition.  Several  from 
the  Kaposia  village  also  joined  the  party,  under  the 
leadership  of  a  worthless  Indian,  who  had  been  confined 
in  the  guard-house  at  Fort  Snelling,  the  year  previous, 
for  scalping  his  wife. 

Passing  up  the  valley  of  the  St.  Croix,  a  few  miles 
above  Stillwater,  the  party  discovered  on  the  snow  the 
marks  of  a  keg  and  foot-prints.  These  told  them  that 
a  ma;n  and  woman  of  the  Ojibways  had  been  to  some 
whiskey  dealer's,  and  were  returning.  Following  their 
trail,  they  found  on  Apple  river,  about  twenty  miles 
from  Stillwater,  a  band  of  Ojibways  encamped  in  one 
lodge.  Waiting  till  daybreak  of  Wednesday,  April 
second,  the  Dahkotahs  commenced  firing  on  the  unsus- 
pecting inmates,  some  of  whom  were  drinking  from  the 
contents  of  the  whiskey  keg.  The  camp  was  composed 
of  fifteen,  and  all  were  murdered  and  scalped,  with  the 
exception  of  a  lad,  who  was  made  a  captive. 

On  Thursday,  the  victors  came  to  Stillwater,  and 
danced  the  scalp  dance  around  the  captive  hoy,  in  the 
heat  of  excitement,  striking  him  in  the  face  with,  the 
scarcely  cold  and  reeking  scalps  of  his  relatives.  The 
child  was  then  taken  to  Kaposia,  and  adopted  by  the 
chief.  Governor  Ramsey  immediately  took  measures 
to  send  the  boy  to  his  friends.  At  a  conference  held  at 
the  governor's  mansion,  the  boy  was  dehvered  up,  and 


FRIGHT  OF  THE  CAPTIVE  BOY  AT  THE  GOVERNOR'S.       527 

on  being  led  out  to  the  kitchen,  by  a  little  son  of  the 
governor,  since  deceased,  to  receive  refreshments,  he 
cried  bitterly,  seemingly  more  alarmed  at  being  left 
with  the  whites  than  he  had  been  while  a  captive  at 
Kaposia. 

From  the  first  of  April  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi 
began  to  rise,  and  on  the  thirteenth,  the  lower  floor  of 
the  warehouse,  now  occupied  by  William  Constans,  at 
the  foot  of  Jackson  street,  St.  Paul,  was  submerged. 
Taking  advantage  of  the  freshet,  the  steamboat  Anthony 
Wayne,  for  a  purse  of  two  hundred  dollars,  ventured 
through  the  swift  current  above  Fort  Snelling,  and 
reached  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony.  The  boat  left  the 
fort  after  dinner,  Mdth  Governor  Ramsey  and  other 
guests,  also  the  band  of  the  sixth  regiment  on  board,  and 
reached  the  falls  between  three  and  four  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon.  The  whole  town,  men,  women,  and  children, 
lined  the  shore  as  the  boat  approached,  and  welcomed 
this  first  arrival,  with  shouts  and  waving  handkerchiefs. 

On  the  afternoon  of  May  fifteenth,  there  might  have 
been  seen,  hurrying  through  the  streets  of  St.  Paul,  a 
number  of  naked  and  painted  braves  of  the  Kaposia 
band  of  Dahkotahs,  ornamented  with  all  the  attire  of 
war,  and  panting  for  the  scalp  of  their  enemies.  A  few 
hours  before,  the  youthful  and  warlike  head  chief  of  the 
Ojibways,  "  Hole  in  the  Day,"  having  secreted  his  canoe 
in  the  retired  gorge  which  leads  to  the  cave  in  the 
upper  suburbs,  with  two  or  three  associates  had  crossed 
the  river,  and,  almost  in  sight  of  the  citizens  of  the 
town,  had  attacked  a  small  party  of  Dahkotahs,  and 
murdered  and  scalped  one  man.  On  the  receipt  of  the 
news,  Governor  Ramsey  granted  a  parole  to  the  thirteen 
Dahkotahs  confined  in  Fort  Snelling,  for  participating 


528  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

in  the  Apple  river  massacre.  On  the  morning  of  the 
sixteenth  of  May,  the  first  Protestant  church  edifice 
completed  in  the  white  settlements,  a  small  frame 
building,  built  for  the  Presbyterian  Church,  at  St.  Paul, 
was  destroyed  by  fire,  it  being  the  first  conflagration 
that  had  occurred  since  the  organization  of  the  territory. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  events  of  the  year  1850, 
was  the  Indian  council,  at  Fort  Snelling.  Governor 
Ramsey  had  sent  runners  to  the  different  bands  of  the 
Ojibways  and  Dahkotahs,  to  meet  him  at  the  fort,  for 
the  purpose  of  endeavouring  to  adjust  their  difficulties. 
"We  give  the  account  of  the  proceedings,  as  reported  in 
the  Minnesota  Pioneer : — 

"  Tuesday  morning,  June  eleventh,  was  one  of  the 
sweetest  days  of  the  nionth.  By  nine  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  a  large  concourse  of  persons  had  assembled  at 
Fort  Snelling,  from  various  quarters,  and  especially 
from  St.  Paul,  to  witness  the  council.  Fort  Snelling  is 
at  the  extreme  angle  of  a  high  table  land,  between  the 
Mississippi  and  the  St.  Peter's — a  beautiful  elevated 
plain,  covered  with  grass  as  far  as  the  eye  can  extend. 
Near  the  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  and  distant  from  the 
fort  a  few  hundred  yards,  are  the  stables  of  the  garri- 
son, and  on  the  open  space  between  the  garrison  and  the 
stables  were  the  encampments  of  the  Chippewas,  and 
there  was  the  council  ground.  Caj)tain  Monroe  was 
present  with  a  small  detachment  of  infantry,  and  a  few 
troops  were  ready  for  service  in  the  fort,  as  well  as 
artillery.  The  Chippewas  were  lying  about  their  tents, 
seeming  quite  contented,  laughing,  talking,  playing 
together,  and  some  gambling  in  various  ways.  There 
seemed  nothing  surly  or  stoical  in  their  countenances. 
A  message  was  at  length  sent  by  the  governor  to  notify 


DAHKOTAHS  ADVANCING  TO  THE  COUNCIL.  529 

the  Sioux  that  they  would  be  expected  in  half  an  hour, 
if  at  all. 

"  At  length  they  made  their  appearance  a  mile  distant/ 
upon  a  brow  of  the  hill  across  the  St.  Peter's.  The  few 
infantry  present,  on  the  approach  of  the  Sioux,  were 
extended  in  an  open  line,  nearly  from  the  Fort  to  the 
stables,  so  as  to  form  a  separation  between  the  Chippe- 
was  in  their  rear  and  the  advancing  band  of  the  Sioux, 
numbering  perhaps  three  hundred,  a  large  portion  on 
horseback,  armed  and  painted,  who  by  this  time  were 
rushing  up  on  the  plateau,  screaming  and  whooping 
horribly,  themselves  loaded  with  jingling  arms  and  orna- 
ments, and  their  horses  with  bells  on,  the  whole  of  them 
rushing  on  at  full  speed  and  making  a  feint  as  if  they 
would  pass  around  the  stable,  turn  the  right  flank  of 
the  infiintry,  and  attack  the  Chippewas ;  but  they  were 
only  showing  off;  having,  in  fact,  all  due  respect  for 
those  ugly  cast  iron  orators  of  Uncle  Sam's.  The  line 
of  Chippewas  remained  where  it  was  at  the  time  of 
the  grand  entree  (for  we  can  compare  it  to  nothing  it 
so  much  resembled  as  a  grand  entree  into  a  stupendous 
circus),  they  continuing  to  dance  and  shout,  and  bran- 
dish their  weapons  as  if  aching  for  an  onslaught. 
Among  them,  conspicuous  as  Achilles  in  the  battle  of 
Troy,  stood  the  young  Pillager  chief,  Sitting-in-a-row, 
standing  six  and  a  half  feet  in  his  moccasins,  well  pro- 
portioned, and  weighing  two  hundred  and  twenty 
pounds,  who  takes  his  name,  perhaps,  from  the  fact  that 
he  is  equal  to  a  man  or  two  beside  himself  The  Sioux 
soon  fell  back  and  formed  a  line ;  they  discharged  their 
pieces  in  a  scattering  fire  along  the  line.  The  Chippe- 
wa line  returned  their  salute ;  after  which  Uncle  Sam 
replied  by  the  mouth  of  one  of  his  cast  iron  orators, 

34 


530  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

who  Avere  so  persuasive  in  Mexico.  The  representation 
of  a  white  flag  then  appearing  between  the  two  oppos- 
ing lines,  the  Chippewas  first  and  next  the  Sioux, 
marched  away  and  stacked  their  arms.  Then  return- 
ing, the  two  lines  advanced  until  they  reached  the  file 
of  infantry  which  separated  them,  when  the  chiefs  and 
braves  met  at  the  centre  between  the  lines,  and,  advanc- 
ing, went  through  the  ceremony  of  shaking  hands.  The 
governor  then  took  his  seat  in  a  marquee,  with  Captain 
Todd,  Captain  Monroe,  Mr.  McLean, '  Mr.  Prescott, 
Sioux  Interpreter,  Mr.  Warren,  Chippewa  Interpreter, 
W.  B.  White,  Esq.,  Secretary  of  the  Council,  and  the 
Sioux  chiefs  occupying  one  side,  while  the  Chippewas 
occupied  the  other  side  of  the  marquee ;  besides  which 
some  small  space  was  occupied  by  several  ladies  who 
were  present,  just  in  front  of  the  Sioux. 

"  His  excellency,  the  governor,  having  given  notice 
that  the  council  was  now  open,  then  made  substantiall}^ 
the  following  speech,  through  the  interpreters,  who  both 
seemed  very  prompt  and  accurate  in  translating.  Mr. 
Prescott  speaking  the  harsh,  guttural,  clucking  language 
of  the  Sioux,  and  Mr.  Warren,  an  educated  half-breed 
Chippewa,  rolling  off  the  euphonious  sentences  in  the 
Chippewa  tongue,  with  the  utmost  fluency : — 

"Chiefs,  braves,  and  head  men  of  the  Chippewa 
nation,  and  chiefs,  braves,  and  head  men  of  the  Sioux 
nation  :  You  are  here,  under  the  flag  of  our  Great 
Father,  the  president,  to  see  if  you  can  settle  your  diffi- 
culties and  bury  the  hatchet.  I  hope  this  will  be  done, 
and  that  peace  will  be  made,  for  the  sake  of  your  poor 
bleeding  wives  and  children.  Long  ago,  the  white 
children  of  your  Great  Father,  lived  far  off  and  only 
heard  of  the  outrages  you  committed  upon  each  other  j 


GOV.  RAMSEY'S  SPEECH  IN  COUNCIL.  531 

but  now  they  live  amongst  you,  and  all  around  you. 
They  see  the  reeking  scalps  of  your  victims.  Thmgs 
are  now  changed.  The  whites  are  upon  the  Mississippi, 
the  Missouri,  the  St.  Peter's,  every  where.  They  witness 
what  you  do.  They  will  not  suffer  these  atrocities ;  if 
they  did,  the  Great  Spirit  would  not  smile  upon  them. 
To  many  of  3'ou,  this  may  seem  harsh.  If  we  only 
wanted  your  lands,  we  would  give  you  firearms  and  let 
you  kill  each  other.  You  know  at  what  trouble  and 
expense  your  Great  Father  has  been  to  keep  ardent 
spirits  away  from  you,  which  would,  if  not  thus  pre- 
vented, soon  destroy  you,  if  we  wanted  only  your  lands. 
You  well  know  the  power  of  your  Great  Father ;  that 
he  has  ten  thousand  villages,  each  larger  than  all  the 
villages  together  of  either  of  your  tribes;  and  that  his 
people  not  only  live  upon  the  land,  but  upon  the  ocean, 
sailing  upon  long  voyages;  that  all  you  see  here  of  the 
Great  Father's  villages,  are  few  and  small,  but  that  it  is 
not  so  elsewhere.  Your  white  brethren  are  proud  to  be 
the  children  of  so  great  a  Father,  and  no  doubt,  you,  his 
red  children,  are  proud  of  it.  Your  Father  is  not  only 
great,  but  good.  He  loves  his  red  children  as  well  as 
his  white,  or  he  Avould  let  them  go  to  war.  He  regards 
both  of  your  tribes  with  equal  favour.  Under  his  flag 
he  has  red,  white,  and  black  children,  all  whose  differ- 
ent interests  he  protects.  Numerous  as  you  are,  yet 
when  compared  to  all  the  tribes  under  his  protection, 
you  are  but  as  a  single  blade  of  grass  to  a  whole  prairie. 
[Here  some  interruption  occurred  by  the  Sioux  outside, 
riding  about  on  horseback.  They  were  required  to  dis- 
mount.] I  do  not  say  these  things  by  way  of  boast, 
but  to  let  you  know  that  your  Great  Father  is  able  to 
euibrce  any  treaty  you  may  make.     I  am  aware  that 


532  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

complaints  are  made  on  both  sides,  that  the  treaty  has 
not  been  enforced ;  but  as  I  told  you,  his  business  ex- 
tends so  far  that  he  has  to  do  it  by  agents  and  officers, 
who  sometimes  neglect  to  do  their  duty ;  that  the  Great 
Father  has  now  sent  an  agent,  who  thinks  as  I  do,  that 
it  is  right  that  your  old  troubles  should  be  buried.  A 
treaty  between  you,  made  in  1843,  is  now  in  full  force, 
but  it  has  been  so  long  neglected,  that  we  do  not  like 
to  make  it  a  rule  of  redress.  Your  Great  Father  prefers 
that  you  settle  these  troubles  yourselves.  If  you  say 
you  are  hereditary  foes  and  cannot  make  a  permanent 
peace,  it  is  not  true.  The  two  nations  next  in  power 
to  this,  France  and  Great  Britain,  were  foes  for  many 
hundreds  of  years,  but  are  now  friends,  peaceful  and 
happy,  without  wars.  You  should  leave  off  wars  and 
learn  that  a  bushel  of  potatoes  is  worth  more  to  one 
who  is  hungry  than  a  pile  of  eagle  plumes.  Long  ago 
the  white  race  had  your  notions  about  labour,  but  now 
they  are  changed.  Your  Great  Father  knows  that  when 
3'ou  strike,  you  often  kill  those  who  have  treated  you 
as  friends ;  that  three-fourths  of  the  scalps  you  take  are 
those  of  women  and  children,  who  could  not  and  would 
not  hurt  you.  Amongst  the  whites,  he  who  should  kill 
a  woman  or  a  child  would  be  considered  less  than  a  dog. 
Your  Great  Father  is  determined  that  you  shall  not 
scalp  women  and  children.  You  have  a  treaty  in  force, 
but  your  Great  Father  prefers  that  you  settle  matters 
and  make  a  new  treaty.  I  should  be  glad  to  send  him 
word  that  you  had  buried  the  hatchet.  There  are  many 
bleeding  hearts  here,  but  you  must  forgive  and  forget. 
To  assist  in  shaping  a  treaty,  I  recommend  that  each 
nation    apf)oint  a  committee  of  three  or  five   men  to 


DAHKOTAHS  RUDE.— HOLE-IN-THE-DAY'S  GALLANTRY.      533 

assist — submitting  it  afterwards  to  yourselves  to  decide 
upon. 

'•'■  Eole-iii-the-day . — All  men  that  live  have  minds  of 
their  own,  and  had  better  settle  their  own  affairs. 

"After  some  explanation,  the  committee  was  agreed 
to.  The  following  gentlemen  Avere  appointed :  On  the 
part  of  the  Sioux,  W.  H.  Forbes,  0.  Faribault,  and 
Captain  Monroe,  United  States  Army;  on  the  part  of 
the  Chippewas,  Mr.  Warren,  Mr.  Beaulieu,  and  Captain 
Todd.  Bad-Hail,  a  saucy-looking  Sioux  orator,  then 
stepped  up  and  asked  that  another  commissioner,  Mr. 
Alexander  Faribault,  might  be  appointed  on  their  part. 
The  governor  replied,  that  he  would  submit  their  pro- 
position to  the  magnanimity  of  the  Chippewas.  At 
this  time  the  Sioux  arose,  with  a  great  deal  of  talk,  and 
left  the  council  en  masse.  Upon  inquiry,  it  seems  that 
their  highnesses  had  taken  offence  at  the  presence  of  the 
ladies  in  council ;  and  word  came  in  that  '  they  thought 
they  were  to  meet  Chippewas  in  council,  not  women.' 
Hole-in-the-day  adroitly  turned  the  matter  to  his  own 
advantage,  saying  very  politely,  that  he  was  happy  to  see 
so  many  sweet  women  there,  and  that  they  were  all  icel- 
come  iviih  their  angelic  smiles,  to  a  seat  on  his  side  of  the 
ccuncil.  The  ladies,  however,  chose  to  withdraw,  the 
young  Chippewa  chief  shaking  each  one  cordially  by 
the  hand.  The  Sioux  having  returned,  the  governor 
rebuked  them  sharply  for  their  act  of  disrespect  to  the 
council,  saying,  that  if  they  withdrew  again  in  that 
manner,  he  would  enforce  the  treaty  of  1843.  Bad- 
Hail  said  they  wanted  time  to  consider,  and  that  a 
treaty  could  not  be  made  in  a  day.  After  this  little 
interlude,  the  council  proceeded,  the  Chippewas  con- 
senting to  the  appointment  of  the  fourth  commissioner 


534  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

on  each  side.  Rev.  Mr.  Gear  was  appointed  on  the 
part  of  the  Chippewas;  for  the  Sioux,  A.  Faribault. 
The  council  then  adjourned  to  meet  at  ten  o'clock  on 
Wednesday  morning." 

On  Wednesday,  after  much  talking,  as  is  customary 
at  Indian  councils,  the  two  tribes  agreed  as  they  had 
frequently  done  before,  to  be  friendly,  and  Governor 
Ramsey  presenting  to  each  party  an  ox,  the  council  was 
dissolved. 

On  Thursday,  the  Ojibways  visited  St.  Paul  for  the 
first  time,  Hole-in-the-Day  being  dressed  in  a  coa.t  of 
a  captain  of  United  States  infantry,  which  had  been 
presented  to  him  at  the  fort.  On  Friday,  they  left  in 
the  steamer  Governor  Ramsey,  which  had  been  built  at 
St.  Anthony,  and  just  commenced  running  between 
that  point  and  Sauk  Rapids,  for  their  homes  in  the  wil- 
derness of  the  Upper  Mississippi. 

The  summer  of  1850  was  the  commencement  of  the 
navigation  of  the  Minnesota  river  by  steamboats.  With 
the  exception  of  a  steamer  that  made  a  pleasure  excur- 
sion as  far  as  Shokpay,  in  1842,  no  large  vessels  had 
ever  disturbed  the  waters  of  this  stream.  In  June,  the 
"Anthony  Wayne,"  which  a  month  previous  had  ascended 
to  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  made  a  trip.  On  the 
eighteenth  of  July  she  made  a  second  trip,  going  almost 
to  Mahkahto.  The  "  Nominee"  also  navigated  the 
stream  for  some  distance. 

On  the  twenty-second  of  July  the  officers  of  the 
"  Yankee,"  taking  advantage  of  the  high  water,  deter- 
mined to  navigate  the  stream  as  far  as  the  size  of  the 
boat  would  allow.  The  author  was  one  of  the  numer- 
ous party  of  exploration,  and  he  here  inserts  impressions 
in  the  form  they  were  written  at  that  time,  when  the 


FIRST  STEAMBOAT  ABOVE  MAHKAHTO.  535 

whole  country  west  of  the  Mississippi  was  in  possession 
of  the  barbarians. 

As  there  was  some  danger  in  navigating  a  stream, 
whose  waters  had  never  been  disturbed  for  any  distance 
by  the  paddles  of  the  "  fire  canoe,"  we  did  not  ascend 
on  the  first  evening  more  than  twenty-five  miles  above 
the  fort.  At  early  dawn  on  Tuesday,  the  steamer  was 
again  in  motion,  and  curved  around  the  numerous  short 
bends  of  this  zig-zag  stream,  with  wonderful  ease.  The 
scenery,  the  farther  we  advanced,  became  more  varied 
and  beautiful.  Here  there  was  an  extensive  prairie, 
"  stretching  in  graceful  undulations  far  away ;"  there  a 
wide  amphitheatre  encircled  by  cone-shaped  hills,  and 
inviting  the  agriculturist  to  seek  shelter  for  himself  and 
his  cattle  ;  owing  to  the  high  tide  of  water,  we  passed 
quite  early  in  the  morning  some  rapids  without  any 
difficulty.  During  the  day  we  met  with  little  to  excite 
us.  Now  and  then,  we  would  pass  an  Indian  in  his 
canoe,  who,  frightened  by  the  puffing  and  novel  appear- 
ance of  the  boat,  had  crouched  behind  the  overhanging 
boughs  of  the  weeping  willow.  Upon  the  south  bank 
of  the  river,  eighty-five  miles  from  Fort  Snelling,  within 
a  few  yards  of  some  ledges  of  fawn-coloured  limestone, 
there  enters  a  little  stream  of  clear  and  pure  water, 
which  Featherstonhaugh,  who  explored  the  country  some 
years  ago,  named  "Abert's  Run."  In  the  afternoon, 
we  passed  a  bluff  of  sand  and  limestone,  similar  to 
those  so  frequent  on  the  Upper  Mississippi,  which  is 
called  White  Rock.  About  twelve  miles  beyond  this, 
we  came  to  Traverse  des  Sioux,  where  Ave  did  not  stop, 
as  we  were  anxious  to  ascend  as  far  as  possible  by  sun- 
set. The  wood  we  had  taken  with  us  began  to  grow 
scarce,  and  a  little  distance  above  this  point  the  boat 


536  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

stopped,  and  the  crew  and  many  of  the  passengers  began 
to  chop  wood. 

While  engaged  in  this  occupation,  some  two  or  three 
Dahkotah  Indians,  painted  and  plumed,  and  covered 
with  perspiration,  galloped  up  on  their  Indian  ponies. 
To  pacify  them,  and  pay  for  the  Avood  wdiich  it  was 
necessary  to  take  from  their  lands,  the  party  presented 
them  with  some  sacks  of  corn,  and  treated  them  to  a 
glass  of  fire  water,  which  was  entirely  unnecessary. 
At  dusk  the  boat  tied  up,  in  front  of  a  beautiful  prairie, 
elevated  some  seventy  feet  above  the  river ;  and  there 
those  w^hose  tastes  and  principles  permitted,  danced 
until  the  heat  and  the  mosquitoes  forced  them  back  to 
the  boat.  The  view  from  this  prairie  was  exceedingly 
interesting.  It  was  bounded  by  a  belt  of  woodland, 
and  upon  the  opposite  side,  were  slojDes  most  beautifully 
rounded.  Upon  its  surface,  jutting  from  the  green 
sward,  were  boulders  of  every  size  and  shape,  looking 
in  the  dark  as  if  the  cattle  had  come  down  from  a 
thousand  hills,  and  were  in  repose. 

As  the  writer  sat  upon  the  deck,  he  could  but  be 
interested  in  looking  over  the  party  and  seeing  how 
well  they  harmonized,  born,  as  they  had  been,  in  va- 
rious parts  of  the  continent,  and  educated  under  diverse 
influences.  Among  the  party  was  one  who  had  been 
an  aid  of  General  Harrison,  and  at  a  later  day  our  am- 
bassador at  the  court  of  Russia ;  another  who  had  grad- 
uated at  West  Point  and  the  Yale  Law  School,  and  who 
had  been  wounded  while  in  command  of  a  regiment  at 
Monterey. 

Among  the  half-breeds  was  one  w^ho  had  been  the 
guide  and  interpreter  of  Nicollet,  wdiile  engaged  in  sci- 
entific explorations  in  the  valley  of  the   Minnesota; 


SUPPOSED  BUFFALOES.— MOSQUITOES.         537 

also  one  by  the  name  of  Renville,  the  son  of  one  of  the 
most  intelligent  and  benevolent  half-natives  who  ever 
dwelt  in  the  Dahkotah  country. 

Before  sunrise  on  Wednesday  morning,  the  boat  had 
left  her  moorings,  and  was  proceeding  onward.  At 
breakfast  time  we  had  reached  the  highest  point  to 
which  a  steamboat  had  ever  ascended,  a  feat  that  was 
accomplished  the  week  previous  by  the  "Anthony 
Wayne." 

About  nine  and-a-half,  A.  M.,  we  passed  the  Blue 
Earth  river.  The  latitude  of  this  point  is  about  forty- 
four  degrees,  being  nearly  one  degree  lower  than  the 
mouth  of  the  Minnesota.  Our  course  until  now  was 
south-westerly,  but  henceforward  it  is  north-westerly. 
After  passing  the  Blue  Earth,  the  Minnesota  is  much 
narrower,  and  the  bends  so  numerous  that  the  boat  did 
not  go  in  one  direction  at  any  one  time  for  more  than 
five  minutes.  During  the  morning,  the  report  was 
raised  that  some  buffaloes  were  grazing  in  the  distance, 
and,  for  a  time,  there  was  quite  an  excitement ;  but  the 
nearing  of  the  boat,  and  the  use  of  the  spy-glass,  dis- 
pelled our  hopes,  and  exhibited  in  their  stead  huge 
boulders  scattered  among  the  prairie  grass.  At  night, 
we  arrived  near  the  mouth  of  the  Cotton  Wood  river, 
about  two  hundred  miles  from  Fort  Snelling.  The  day 
had  been  intensely  hot,  the  thermometer  having  been 
at  one  hundred  and  four  degrees  in  the  shade;  and  as 
soon  as  the  sun  had  set  a  cloud  of  mosquitoes  enveloped 
us.  The  cabins  were  smoked,  and  the  mosquitoes  beat 
with  green  boughs,  but  they  could  not  be  forced  to  re- 
treat. They  looked  upon  us  as  intruders,  and  seemed 
determined  to  make  us  smart,  and  leave  their  impres- 
sion. 


538  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

The  ice,  too,  had  failed,  and  the  ladies  of  the  party 
began  to  feel  that  there  was  more  reality  than  poetry 
in  an  exploring  expedition  into  an  uncivilized  country. 
A  meeting  was  called  to  see  if  the  captain  should  turn 
back,  but  the  majority  decided  to  go  on.  That  night 
few  of  the  male  members  of  the  party  entered  their 
state-rooms,  but  nearly  all  wrapped  in  mosquito-bar 
were  stretched  upon  the  hurricane  deck,  vainly  endea- 
vouring to  sleep.  When  Thursday's  sun  arose,  the 
boat  was  not  in  motion.  The  crcAv  were  worn  out  by 
their  extra  labours,  and  even  those  of  the  passengers 
who  had  been  anxious  to  navigate  farther,  had  been 
brought  to  terms  by  the  severe  wounds  that  had  been 
inflicted  upon  them  by  the  mosquito. 

It  is  quite  a  coincidence  that  Major  Long  and  his 
party,  twenty-seven  years  before,  suffered  the  same  in- 
convenience, near  the  same  place,  by  the  same  insect. 
Says  his  narrative  :  "  We  never  were  tormented  at  any 
period  of  our  journey,  more  than  when  travelling  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  St.  Peter's.  The  mosquitoes  rose  all 
of  a  sudden.  We  have  been  frequently  so  much  an- 
noyed by  these  insects,  as  to  be  obliged  to  relinquish  an 
unfinished  supper,  or  to  throw  away  a  cup  of  tea  which 
we  could  not  enjoy.  To  protect  our  feet  and  legs  we 
were  obliged  to  lie  with  our  boots  on." 

While  at  breakfast,  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  parties 
concerned,  the  prow  of  the  boat  turned  once  more  to- 
wards the  land  of  civilization  and  comfort.  At  dinner 
time  we  turned  into  the  Blue  Earth  river.  This  is  a 
rapid  stream,  with  pebbly  banks,  and  the  principal 
tributary  of  the  Minnesota.  The  scenery  around  it  is 
picturesque,  and  it  will  always  be  ^dewed  with  interest 
because  of  a  French  fort  or  trading-post  having  been 


TRAVERSE  DES  SIOUX.  539 

built  here  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago.  Upon  the 
banks  of  the  Blue  Earth,  the  party  gathered  some  tol- 
erable specimens  of  agate  and  carnelian,  and  a  dark 
substance  resembling  cannel  coal,  but  probably  lignite. 
It  was  the  discovery  of  this  mineral,  no  doubt,  that  led 
some  of  the  old  travellers  to  mark  on  their  maps  a  coal 
mine  on  the  Minnesota,  a  few  miles  above  Fort  Snelling. 

Just  at  dark,  the  boat  reached  Traverse  des  Sioux. 
This  is  one  of  those  spots  which  nature  has  marked  out 
for  a  town  of  some  importance.  It  derives  its  name 
from  the  fact,  that  for  a  long  period  it  has  been  a  cross- 
ing-place of  the  Sioux  or  Dahkotahs.  The  landing  here 
is  easy,  the  soil  is  fertile,  woodland  is  convenient,  and 
from  a  ridge  of  two  hundred  feet  in  elevation,  there  is 
a  creek  affording  a  great  amoiint  of  water  power,  and 
easily  accessible  from  the  river.  The  spot  is  now  occu- 
pied by  an  Indian  village  of  a  portion  of  the  Dahko- 
tahs, a  trading-house,  and  three  neat  and  plain  Avhite 
buildings  occupied  for  mission  purposes  by  the  mission- 
aries. There  are  many  acres  of  land  m  cultivation, 
presenting  quite  an  air  of  comfort  and  of  civilization. 
As  it  had  been  some  time  since  we  had  any  ice,  most 
of  the  passengers  left  the  boat,  and  walked  to  the  mis- 
sion premises,  where  they  found  a  well  of  clear  and 
cool  water,  and  to  which  they  did  ample  justice. 

Instead  of  returning  to  the  boat,  the  Avriter  passed 
the  evening  with  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hopkins,  the  missionary 
of  the  American  Board  in  charge  of  this  station.  His 
wife,  in  the  course  of  conversation,  mentioned  that  the 
Indians  could  not  conceive  of  the  object  that  led  the 
white  men  to  navigate  a  stream  which  was  not  theirs ; 
and  that  the  children  had  been  in  through  the  day,  to 
tell  her  how  terribly  frightened  they  had  been  by  the 


540  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

steam-whistle ;  and  to  inquire  whether  it  was  a  human 
being  or  the  boat  that  made  such  an  unearthly  noise. 

Leaving  Traverse  des  Sioux  early  on  Friday  morning, 
we  passed  during  the  day  some  ancient  mounds  of  the 
same  kind  as  those  scattered  through  Wisconsin  and 
Illinois.  Inasmuch  as  the  Smithsonian  Institution  has 
volunteered  to  publish  a  description  of  the  earth- works 
near  Lake  Pepm,  and  mounds  in  other  parts  of  Minne- 
sota, it  is  to  be  hoped  that  some  gentleman  of  leisure 
will  sketch  and  prepare  descriptions  of  them. 

In  the  middle  of  the  afternoon,  we  stopped  at  Six 
Village,  the  largest  village  of  the  Dahkotahs.  About 
three  hundred  warriors,  squaws,  and  children  were  on 
the  bank,  eager  to  see  the  wonder.  As  the  steam-whis- 
tle screeched  it  was  amusing  to  see  the  boys  and  girls 
tumbling  over  each  other  in  their  haste  to  escape.  The 
chief  soon  stepped  on  board  and  demanded  a  present, 
for  the  privilege  of  navigating  the  river.  He  also  con- 
tended that  a  canoe  had  been  broken ;  but  as  he  did  not 
gi^'e  the  company  ocular  evidence  of  the  fact,  they  did 
not  pay  him ;  but  presented  him  with  some  pieces  of 
calico,  provisions,  and  a  box  of  Spanish  green.  Since 
1847,  the  American  Board  has  had  a  missionary  resid- 
ing here,  the  Rev.  S.  W.  Pond.  The  population  around 
him,  within  four  or  five  miles,  is  about  six  hundred ; 
and  at  a  little  distance  is  another  band  of  two  hundred 
and  fifty.  Sixteen  miles  below  this  is  a  fourth  mission 
station.  The  missionary  in  charge  is  the  Rev.  G.  Pond. 
He  has  resided  with  the  Indians  for  many  years,  and  is 
one  of  the  best  speakers  of  their  language. 

Though  there  are  four  stations  on  the  Minnesota 
river,  and  two  on  the  Mississippi  below  St.  Paul,  the 
prospects  of  the  Dahkotah  mission  are  not  bright.    The 


OrPOSITION  TO  MISSIONARIES.  541 

male  portion  of  the  nation,  with  but  few  exceptions, 
have  an  inveterate  hatred  of  the  Christian  rehgion,  and 
look  upon  the  missionaries  as  intruders  who  drink  their 
w^ater  and  plough  their  soil,  but  give  nothing  in  return. 
The  few  that  would  gladly  listen  to  instruction  are  de- 
terred from  the  fear  of  ridicule  and  persecution. 

After  a  rapid  run  of  nine  miles  from  the  village  at 
which  the  Rev.  Gideon  Pond  resides,  we  came  once 
more  in  sight  of  the  stars  and  stripes  floating  from  the 
walls  of  Fort  Snelling. 

At  an  early  bed  hour,  on  Friday  night,  the  steamboat 
was  moored  at  the  landing  of  St.  Paul. 

It  had  been  demonstrated  that  steamboats  of  light 
draught  could  navigate  the  Minnesota,  by  the  removal 
of  a  few  obstructions,  at  all  stages  of  water,  to  Traverse 
des  Sioux,  and  even  to  the  Blue  Earth  river.  In  a  year 
or  more  the  Dahkotahs  will  make  a  treaty  and  leave 
the  land  of  their  ancestors,  and  then,  in  an  incredibly 
short  period,  the  w^ar  whoop,  the  scalp  dance,  the  skin 
lodge,  and  the  canoe,  of  the  red  man,  will  give  place  to 
the  lowing  of  cattle,  the  hum  of  children  conning  their 
lessons  in  the  school-house,  the  neat  village  church,  with 
its  spire  pointing  heavenward,  and  a  frugal  and  indus- 
trious American  husbandry.  The  foreign  missionary 
will  soon  give  way  to  the  home  missionary,  and  what  a 
field  is  the  Territory  of  Minnesota  for  the  latter  to  work 
in  !  Like  the  people  of  the  northern  latitudes  of  Europe, 
the  future  population  of  Minnesota  will  be  hardy  and 
intelligent.  They  will  crave  a  learned  and  zealous 
ministry.  The  towns  now  settled  are  like  what  Stock- 
bridge,  Massachusetts,  was  a  centurj^  ago,  filled  with 
Indians  and  white  land  speculators,  and  a  few  church 
members.     We  would  have  labour  here  in  the  home 


542  UISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

field,  just  such  missionaries  as  Jonathan  Edwards  and 
his  wife,  the  beautiful  and  holy  Sarah  Pierpont,  who 
was  such  a  valuable  heljjmeet  in  spiritual  as  well  as 
temporal  things,  Whitfield  is  said  to  have  ofiered  up  a 
prayer  that  God  would  send  him  just  such  a  daughter 
of  Abraham  to  be  his  wife.  Minnesota  does  not  desire 
miiiisters  that  will  leave  the  East,  because  they  possess 
narcotic  properties;  she  does  not  want  men  who  will 
love  New  England  or  any  other  section  so  as  to  be  un- 
fitted to  construct  society  out  of  the  "rude  and  jostling 
materials"  which  will  here  abound;  she  does  not  want 
heralds  of  salvation  to  come  here  and  sow  wheat  upon 
a  quarter-section,  but  to  sow  the  seed  of  God  beside  all 
waters ;  she  does  not  want  firm  partisans  of  any  school 
or  ism,  but  men  who  will  advocate  a  broad  and  com- 
prehensive Christianity ;  she  does  not  want  young  men 
to  come  within  her  borders,  because  they  think  that 
to  their  friends  they  will  appear  more  comely  and  bril- 
liant, upon  the  prmciple  that  "distance  lends  enchant- 
ment to  the  view ;"  but  she  desires,  in  view  of  the  fact 
that  Indian  claims  will  be  soon  extinguished,  scholars 
who  have  bathed  themselves  in  the  learning  of  the  in- 
spired writings ;  gentlemen  like  Paul  who  will  be  high- 
minded,  willing  to  work  with  their  own  hands  rather 
than  cringe,  glorying  in  being  able  to  visit  some  rude 
cabin,  to  whisper  consolation,  and  thinking  themselves 
happy  when  they  can  gain  the  ear  of  an  Agrippa,  Felix, 
Drusilla,  or  Bernice.  In  fine,  Minnesota  desires  for  her 
future  population  a  ministry  who,  in  the  true  sense,  can 
be  "  all  things  to  all  men." 

As  the  time  for  the  general  election  in  September 
approached,  considerable  excitement  was  manifested. 
As  there  were  no  political  issues  before  the  peoj^le, 


ELECTION  FOR  DELEGATE.— MISS  BREMER. 


543 


parties  were  formed  based  on  personal  preferences. 
Among  those  nominated  for  delegate  to  Congress,  by 
various  meetings,  were  H.  H.  Sibley,  the  former  dele- 
gate to  Congress,  David  Olmsted,  at  that  time  engaged 
in  the  Indian  trade,  and  A.  M.  Mitchell,  the  United 
States'  marshal.  Mr.  Olmsted  withdrew  his  name  be- 
fore election  day,  and  the  contest  was  between  those 
interested  in  Sibley  and  Mitchell.  The  friends  of  each 
betrayed  the  greatest  zeal,  and  neither  pains  nor  money 
were  spared  to  insure  success.  Mr.  Sibley  was  elected 
by  a  small  majority.'  For  the  first  time  in  the  terri- 
tory, soldiers  at  the  garrisons  voted  at  this  election,  and 
there  was  considerable  discussion  as  to  the  propriety  of 
such  a  course. 

Miss  Fredrika  Bremer,  the  well  kno^vn  Swedish 
noveUst,  visited  Minnesota  in  the  month  of  October, 
and  was  the  guest  of  Governor  Ramsey.^ 


^  The  following  are  the  returns  of 
the  late  election  for  Delegate,  as  filed 
in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  ; — 


Trecincts. 

Sibley. 

MitcbeU 

St.  Paul,     .     . 

151 

153 

St.  Anthony,   . 

.      64 

110 

Little  Canada, 

44 

8 

Stillwater,  .     . 

.     117 

59 

Marine,       .     . 

.      17 

4 

Falls  St.  Croix, 

.      17 

0 

Snake  River,   . 

10 

0 

Prairie,  .     .     . 

54 

24 

Sauk  Rapids,  .     , 

3 

60 

Swan  River,    .     . 

22 

56 

Crow  Wing,     . 

8 

48 

Elk  River,  .     . 

16 

8 

Nokaseppi, 

36 

26 

Lac  qui  Parle, 

12 

0 

Mendota,    .     . 

78 

3 

649 

559 

'^  St.  Paul,  as  described  by  the 
novelist  of  Sweden,  in  1850,  and  St. 
Paul  in  1858,  with  its  gas  lamps 
and  public  edifices,  are  very  differ- 
ent places : — 

"  Scarcely  had  we  touched  the 
shore,  when  the  governor  of  Minne- 
sota, and  his  pretty  young  wife, 
came  on  board  and  invited  me  to 
take  up  my  quarters  at  their  house. 
And  there  I  am  now;  happy  with 
these  kind  people,  and  with  them  I 
make  excursions  into  the  neighbour- 
hood. The  town  is  one  of  the 
youngest  infants  of  the  Great  West, 
scarcely  eighteen  months  old ;  and 
yet  it  has  in  a  short  time  increa.scd 
to  a  population  of  two  thousand 
persons,  and  in  a  very  few  years  it 
will  certainly  be  possessed  of  twen- 
ty-two thousand ;  for  its  situation  is 


544 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


During  November,  the  Dahkotah  Tawaxitku  Kin,  or 
the  Dahkotah  Friend,  a  monthly  paper,  was  commenced, 
one-half  in  the  Dahkotah  and  one-half  in  the  English 
language.  Its  editor  was  the  Rev.  Gideon  H.  Pond,  and 
its  place  of  publication  at  St.  Paul.  It  was  published 
for  nearly  two  years,  and,  though  it  failed  to  attract  the 
attention  of  the  Indian  mind,  it  conveyed  to  the  English 
reader  much  correct  information  in  relation  to  the  habits, 
the  belief,  and  superstitions,  of  the  Dahkotahs. 

On  the  tenth  of  December,  a  new  paper,  owned  and 
edited  by  Daniel  A.  Robertson,  late  United  States'  mar- 
shal, of  Ohio,  and  called  the  Minnesota  Democrat,  made 
its  appearance. 


as  remarkable  for  its  beauty  and 
healthiness,  as  it  is  advantageous 
for  trade. 

"As  yet,  however,  the  town  is 
but  in  its  infancy,  and  people  ma- 
nage with  such  dwellings  as  they 
can  get.  The  drawing-room  at  Go- 
vernor Ramsey's  house  is  also  his 
oflBce,  and  Indians  and  workpeople, 
and  ladies  and  gentlemen,  are  all 
alike  admitted.  In  the  mean  time, 
Mr.  Ramsey  is  building  a  handsome, 
spacious  house  upon  a  hill,  a  little 
out  of  the  city  [now  in  the  middle 
of  the  west  end  of  the  city],  with 
beautiful  trees  around  it,  and  com- 
manding a  grand  view  of  the  river. 
If  I  were  to  live  on  the  Mississippi, 
I  would  live  here.  It  is  a  hilly  re- 
gion, and  on  all  sides  extend  beauti- 
ful and  varying  landscapes. 

"  The  city  is  thronged  with  In- 
dians. The  men,  for  the  most  part, 
go  about  grandly  ornamented,  with 
naked  hatchets,  the  shafts  of  which 
serve  them   as   pipes.     They  paint 


themselves  so  utterly  without  any 
taste,  that  it  is  incredible.  Here 
comes  an  Indian  who  has  painted 
a  great  red  spot  in  the  middle  of 
his  nose ;  here  another  who  has 
painted  the  whole  of  his  forehead 
in  lines  of  black  and  yellow ;  there 
a  third  with  coal  black  rings  round 
his  eyes.  *  *  *  *  The  women 
are  less  painted,  with  better  taste 
than  the  men,  generally  with  merely 
one  deep  red  little  spot  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  cheeks ;  and  the  parting 
of  the  hair  on  the  forehead  is  dyed 
purple.  There  goes  an  Indian  with 
his  proud  step,  bearing  aloft  his 
plumed  head.  He  carries  only  his 
pipe,  and  when  he  is  on  a  journey, 
perhaps  a  long  staff  in  his  hand. 
After  him,  with  bowed  head  and 
stooping  shoulders,  follows  his  wife, 
bending  under  the  burden  which 
she  bears.  Above  the  burden  peeps 
forth  a  little  round-faced  child,  with 
beautiful  dark  eyes." 


FIRST  THANKSGIVING  DAY.  545 

During  the  summer  there  had  been  changes  in  the 
editorial  supervision  of  the  "Chronicle  and  Register." 
For  a  brief  period  it  was  edited  by  L.  A.  Babcock,  Esq., 
who  was  succeeded  by  W.  G.  Le  Due. 

About  the  time  of  the  issuing  of  the  Democrat,  C.  J. 
Henniss,  formerly  reporter  for  the  United  States  Gazette, 
Philadelphia,  became  the  editor. 

The  first  proclamation  for  a  thanksgiving  day  was 
issued  in  1850  by  the  governor,  and  the  twenty-sixth  of 
December  was  the  time  appointed,  and  it  was  generally 
observed. 


35 


546 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 

On  Wednesday,  January  first,  1851,  the  second  Legis- 
lative Assembly  ^  assembled  in  a  three-story  brick  build- 


^  The  following  persons  composed  the  second  Legislative  Assembly  : — 


Councillors. 

Ko.  of  District.        Residence 

Age. 

Place  of  Nativity. 

James  S.  Norris,  . 

.      1      . 

Cottage  Grove 

.     .    39 

Maine. 

Samuel  Burkleo,  . 

.    2    . 

Stillwater,  . 

.     .     .    46 

Delaware. 

AVilliam  11.  Forbes, 

.    3    . 

St.  Paul,     . 

.     .    35 

Montreal,  C. 

James  McC.  Boal, 

.    3     . 

(< 

.     .    39 

Pennsylvania. 

David  B.  Loomis, 

.     4    . 

Marine  Mills, 

.     .    33 

Connecticut. 

John  Rollins,  .     . 

.    5     . 

Falls  of  St.  Ar 

ithony,   42 

Maine. 

David  Olmsted,     . 

.    6     . 

Long  Prairie, 

.     .    28 

Vermont. 

William  Sturges, 

.     6    . 

Elk  River,  . 

.     .    32 

Up.  Canada. 

Martin  McLeod,  . 

.    7     . 

Lac  qui  Parle, 

.     .    30 

Montreal,  C. 

Representatives. 

James  Wells,  .     . 

.     1     . 

Lake  Pepin, 

.     .     47 

N.  Jersey. 

John  A.  Ford,  .    . 

.     I     . 

Red  Rock,  . 

.     .     .    38 

New  York. 

M.  E.  Ames,    .     . 

2 

Stillwater, 

.     .    .    30 

Vermont. 

Sylvanus  Trask,  . 

.    2    . 

(( 

.     .    30 

New  York. 

Jesse  Taylor,   .     .     . 

.    2    . 

" 

.     .    45 

Kentucky. 

Benjamin  W.  Brunsc 

m,      3     . 

St.  Paul,     . 

.     .    26 

Michigan. 

J.  C.  Ramsey, .     . 

.     3     . 

" 

.     .    29 

Pennsylvania. 

Edmund  Rice,       .     . 

.    3     . 

C( 

.     .    30 

Vermont. 

II.  L.  Tilden,  .     .     . 

.    3     . 

(t 

.     .    32 
.     .    32 

Connecticut, 

John  D.  Ludden,  . 

.    4    . 

Marine  Mills, 

Massachusetts. 

John  W.  North,    .     . 

.     5     . 

Falls  of  St.  Ar 

thony,    35 

New  York. 

Edward  Patch, 

.    5     . 

(( 

27 

" 

S.  B.  Olmstead,     . 

.    6     . 

Belle  Prairie, 

.     .    36 

(( 

W.  W.  Warren,    . 

.    6     . 

Gull  Lake, 

.     .    20 

L.  Superior. 

BITTER  TALTr  FEELING.  547 

ing,  since  destroyed  by  fire,  that  stood  on  St.  Anthony 
street,  between  Washington  and  Franklin.  D.  B. 
Loomis  was  chosen  speaker  of  the  Council,  and  M.  E. 
Ames  speaker  of  the  House. ^  This  assembly  was  cha- 
racterized b}'  more  bitterness  of  feeling  than  any  that 
has  since  convened.  The  previous  delegate  election  had 
been  based  on  personal  preferences,  and  cliques  and  fac- 
tions manifested  themselves  at  an  early  period  of  the 
session. 

On  the  morning  of  January  sixteenth,  an  editorial 
appeared  in  the  Pioneer  grossly  attacking  the  character 
of  one  of  the  judges  of  the  territory.  Every  word 
was  barbed,  and  naturally  irritated  the  brother  of  the 
judge,  who  was  then  absent  at  Washington.  Meeting 
the  editor  near  the  building  used  as  the  capitol,  a  ren- 
contre took  place  in  which  Mr.  Goodhue  was  severely 
stabljed  in  the  abdomen,  and  the  other  party  was  shot. 
Among  other  exciting  topics  was  the  election  of  public 
printer.  The  candidates  were  the  editors  of  the  Pioneer, 
Democrat,  and  the  Chronicle  and  Register;  the  Whig 
members  coalescing  with  the  friends  of  Mr.  Sibley,  the 
editor  of  the  Pioneer  was  elected. 

The  locating  of  the  penitentiary  at  Stillwater,  and 
the  capitol  building  at  St.  Paul  gave  some  dissatisfac- 
tion. By  the  eflforts  of  J.  W.  North,  Esq.,  a  bill  creat- 
ing the  University  of  Minnesota  at  or  near  the  Falls 
of  St.  Anthony  was  passed  and  signed  by  the  governor. 
This  institution,  by  the  constitution  recently  adopted 

RepresentatiTCP.  No.  of  District.        Kesidcnce.  Age.    Place  of  Nativity. 

D.  T.  Sloan,      ....  6  .  Little  Rock,     ...  36  New  York. 

David  Oilman,      .     .     .  6  .     Watab 39 

Alex.  Faribault,    .     .     .  7  .  Mendota,    .     .     .     .  4G  Minnesota. 

B.  II.  Randall,     .     .     .  7  .  Fort  Snelling,      .     .  27  Vermont. 


548  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

by  the  vote  of  the  people,  is  now  the  state  university, 
and  is  entitled  to  the  two  townships  of  land  granted  for 
that  purpose. 

The  apportionment  bill,  based  on  the  census  of  1850, 
led  to  a  bitter  personal  discussion,  but  was  jDassed  on 
Saturday,  March  twenty-ninth.  The  opponents  of  the 
bill  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  seven  in  number, 
on  the  same  day  resigned  their  seats.  They  contended 
that  the  census  was  incorrect ;  that  Benton  county,  Avith 
four  thousand  acres  under  cultivation,  by  the  bill  had 
but  one  half  the  representation  that  Pembina  county 
had,  where  there  Avere  but  seventy  acres  under  cultiva- 
tion, and  more  than  one-half  of  that  belonging  to  one 
individual.  They  also  urged  the  fact  that,  excepting 
soldiers,  at  least  seven-eighths  of  the  population  were 
Indians,  and  that  the  legislature  had  no  authority  over 
the  unceded  lands.* 

^  Correspondence    in   relation    to  ■weight  in    the    settlement    of    the 

points  in  dispute : —  points  referred  to.  I  have  the  honour, 

'•House  OF  Representatives,  therefore,  to  request  that  you  will 

"  Wasiiingtox,  Feb.  27,  1851.  reply  to   the  foUovring  queries,  to 

"Hon.  James  Thompson,  Chairman  wit: — 

of  the  Judiciary  Committee:  "First:  Does,  or  does  not  the  or- 

"Dear  Sir: — There  are  questions  ganic  act  of  Minnesota,  grant  to  the 

mooted  among  the  people  of  Minne-  Legislative  Assembly  full  jurisdic- 

sota,  as  to  the  extent  of  the  authority  tion  over  all  the  country  embraced 

conferred  by  the  Organic  Act,  upon  within  the  limits  of  the  territory, 

the  Legislative  Assembly  of  the  ter-  restricted    solely  by   provisions  of 

ritory,  and  other  matters  connected  Indian  treaties  conflicting  with   it, 

with   the  exercise  of  that  jurisdic-  should  such  exist  ? 

tion  on  the  Indian  country,  which  "  Second :  Does,  or  does  not  the 

comprises  all  the  region  west  of  the  organic   act  secure  to  all  the  peo- 

Mississippi.     The  distinguished  po-  pie,  living  as  well  on  the  unceded  as 

sition  you  occupy  as  the  head  of  the  the  ceded  lands,  the  right  of  repre- 

Judiciary  Committee,  and  your  ac-  sentation  in  the  Assembly,  and  of 

knowledged  eminence  as  a  lawyer,  voting  at  all  elections,  subject  only 

will  invest  your  opinion  with  great  to   the   restrictions   of  the   laws  to 


SUFFERING  AND  SICKNESS  OF  OJIBWAYS. 


549 


The  Ojibways  of  Red,  Cass,  Leech,  and  Sandy  Lakes 
sujfifered  much  during  the  whiter  of  1850-5L  About 
the  first  of  October,  1850,  the  Lidians  collected  at  the 
new  agency  at  Sandy  Lake,  to  receive  their  annuities, 


regulate  the  qualifications  of  voters, 
and  are  not  elections  held  on  the 
unceded  lands  made  equally  valid 
and  legal  by  the  provisions  of  the 
organic  law,  with  those  held  on  the 
ceded  country  ? 

"  An  early  reply  to  the  questions 
will  be  gratefully  acknowledged  by, 
"  Yours,  very  respectfully, 

"  II.  II.  Sibley." 

"Washington,  Feb.  28,  1851. 
"  Hon.  H.  II.  Sibley,  Delegate  from 
the  Territory  of  Minnesota : 
"Dear  Sir: — I  have  examined, 
though  briefly,  the  law  organizing 
the  Territory  of  Minnesota,  in  rela- 
tion to  the  questions  you  propound 
in  your  note  of  yesterday.  I  was 
surprised  that  any  question  of  the 
kind  could  arise  in  the  mind  of  any 
one.  I  had  been  one  of  the  com- 
mittee that  framed  the  law  in  ques- 
tion, and  I  presume  that  no  one  of 
that  committee  ever  doubted  that 
the  legislative  power  of  the  terri- 
tory extended  to  the  entire  limits  of 
the  territory,  restricted  only  to 
'  rightful  subjects  of  legislation,  con- 
sistent with  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  the  provisions  of 
this  act,'  and  subject  to  the  approval 
of  Congress.  Nothing  of  course 
could  be  done  by  the  legislature  of 
the  territory  in  regard  to  the  Indian 
tribes,  as  this  subject  belongs  ex- 
clusively to  Congress,  but  that  the 
territory,  in  all  its  parts,  was  devoted 


to  the  same  legislative  control,  is 
proved  by  the  provision  that  every 
free  white  citizen  of  the  age  of 
twenty-one  years,  who  shall  have 
been  a  resident  of  the  territory  at 
the  time  of  the  passage  of  the  act, 
shall  be  entitled  to  vote  at  the  first 
election.  All  could  vote;  the  conse- 
quence of  which  is  apparent — that 
all,  in  contemplation  of  law,  were 
to  be  represented.  Subsequent  legis- 
latures could  regulate  the  qualifica- 
tions of  voters,  but  in  the  territory, 
and  in  any  part  of  it,  the  right  of 
voting  would  remain,  and  of  course 
the  right  of  representation. 

"This  short  view  of  the  subject 
answers  the  points  made  in  your 
note.  The  organic  law  of  the  terri- 
tory regarded  the  entire  territory  in 
precisely  the  same  light — all  parts 
of  it  entitled  to  representation — all 
male  citizens  of  tAventy-one  j^ears  of 
age,  being  free,  no  matter  where 
situated  or  living,  being  entitled  to 
vote.  The  legislation  over  the  whole 
territory  is  a  complete  right  in  the 
territorial  legislature,  subject  only 
to  the  restrictions  implied  in  the  ex- 
clusive right  of  Congress  to  regulate 
the  intercourse  between  the  Indian 
tribes.  Excuse  the  imperfections  of 
this  note,  written  in  the  midst  of  a 
boisterous  debate. 

"  With  great  respect, 
"  I  am  truly  yours, 
"James  Tuompson." 


550  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

supposing  that  they  -would  be  immediately  paid.  To 
their  disappointment  they  -were  kept  waiting  for  seven 
or  eight  weeks,  and  while  there  measles  and  dysentery 
carried  off  hundreds.  Some  of  the  provisions  received 
at  the  payment  appear  in  some  way  to  have  been 
damaged,  and  this  increased  the  mortality.  The  wife 
of  a  missionary,  writing  from  Red  Lake,  on  the  first  of 
February,  says : — 

"Many  of  the  Indians  Avho  attended  the  payment 
last  fall  at  Sandy  Lake,  will  remember  the  place  for  a 
long  time  as  the  burying-place  of  their  friends.  The 
Indians  gathered  there  to  receive  their  annuities  about 
the  first  of  October,  expecting  payment  to  take  place  in 
a  few  days ;  but  they  were  put  off"  from  time  to  time  for 
two  long  months,  and  then  were  obliged  to  leave,  hav- 
ing received  but  a  part  of  their  dues.  During  their  stay 
there,  the  dysentery  and  measles  prevailed,  and  carried 
off  great  numbers  of  them ;  many  others  were  attacked, 
and  in  this  state  were  obliged  to  start  for  their  respec- 
tive homes.  Provisions  were  so  scarce  that  they  could 
not  procure  food  for  their  journey  home,  and  many  of 
them  died  on  the  way.  It  is  reported  that  more  than 
five  hundred  have  died  since  the  sickness  commenced. 

"  To  give  you  an  idea  of  their  suffering,  I  will  furnish 
you  with  an  account  of  one  family,  near  neighbours  of 
ours. 

"  This  family  consisting  of  a  man  and  his  wife,  two 
children,  and  his  wife's  brother,  started  from  Sandy 
Lake  in  health,  with  food  enough  for  their  journey,  if 
they  had  not  been  detained  on  their  way.  About  half- 
way from  Sandy  Lake  to  Leech  Lake,  the  wife's  brother 
was  taken  sick,  and  detained  them  several  days,  when 
he  died;  they  buried  him  and  came  on.     Three  days' 


MORTALITY  AMONG  OJIBWAYS.  551 

march  from  Leech  Lake,  the  two  children  were  taken 
sick,  the  oldest  a  boy  of  twelve  years  old  (who,  by  the 
way,  was  the  best  boy  we  have  known  in  the  country, 
a  member  of  our  school,  one  we  had  hoped  to  educate), 
the  other  a  girl  two  years  old.  At  this  time  their  food 
was  all  gone.  The  father  was  obliged  to  carry  his  sick 
son,  and  the  mother  the  daughter,  until  the  last  night 
before  they  reached  Leech  Lake,  when  the  boy  died. 
The  next  morning  they  set  off  again,  the  father  carry- 
ing the  corpse  of  his  son,  and  the  mother  a  sick  child. 
About  noon  the  girl  died,  but  they  came  on  until  they 
reached  Leech  Lake,  bringing  the  dead  bodies  of  their 
children  on  their  backs. 

"Another  man  started  from  Sandy  Lake  for  Cass 
Lake  with  his  sister,  in  company  with  another  family. 
He  was  taken  sick  soon  after  he  left  Sandy  Lake,  but 
travelled  on  until  about  half-way  to  Leech  Lake,  and 
died.  The  next  morning  the  family  went  on.  The 
sister  remained  b}''  the  body  alone,  one  night  and  two 
days,  when  some  Indians  came  along  and  buried  it. 

"  There  are  more  Indians  about  us  this  winter  than 
there  have  been  any  winter  before,  since  I  have  been  in 
the  country.  Many  have  come  here  from  Leech  Lake, 
Cass  Lake,  and  Lake  Winnepec,  to  live  by  begging,, 
having  nothing  to  eat  at  home.  Probably  not  less  than 
forty  families  are  wintering  here  from  other  bands. 
Many  of  them  were  intending  to  go  to  the  plains,  but 
so  many  are  sick,  and  the  snow  so  deep,  that  they  dare 
not  start  out.  This  band  last  fall,  had  provision  enough 
to  make  them  comfortable  for  the  year,  but  having  so 
many  beggars  to  live  upon  them,  they  will  all  be  out  by 
sugar-making." 

Hole-in-the-day,   the   Ojibway   chief,    addressed   the 


552 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


legislature  in  relation  to  the  wants  of  his  people.  The 
speech  at  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  attracted  a 
great  crowd.  He  in  true  Indian  style  narrated  the  suf- 
fering of  his  people,  and  begged  in  the  inimitable  manner 
of  his  race;  and  a  committee  was  appointed  to  solicit 
subscriptions  for  their  relief.  During  the  winter,  hunger 
is  said  to  have  driven  some  to  cannibalism.^ 


*  Extract  from  Minnesota  Demo- 
crat, July  29,  1851  :— 

"  Last  winter  an  old  man  and  wo- 
man of  the  Pillager  Band  of  Chip- 
pewa Indians,  with  two  married 
daughters,  went  from  Leech  Lake  to 
Lake  Itasca,  to  spend  the  winter. 
The  husbands  of  the  daughters  were 
not  with  them — one  had  four  and 
the  other  five  children,  varying  in 
age  from  one  to  eighteen  years. 

"  They  were  reduced  to  a  starving 
condition,  and  the  mothers  com- 
menced killing  and  eating  their 
children  !  They  fed  voraciously  upon 
the  flesh  of  their  children,  and  be- 
came passionately  fond  of  it.  All 
of  the  children  were  despatched  and 
eaten,  but  one,  a  boy  about  eighteen 
years  of  age. 

"  In  the  latter  part  of  winter  his 
mother  called  him  to  her,  and  re- 
quested him  to  put  his  head  in  her 
lap,  under  pretence  of  desiring  to 
look  for  vermin,  as  is  the  custom 
among  the  Indians.  The  boy  com- 
plied. The  mother  had  some  molten 
lead  at  hand,  which  she  poured  into 
his  ear,  and  killed  him.  Ills  cries 
of  agony  alarmed  the  old  people. 
The  old  man  told  his  wife  to  go  and 
see  what  was  the  matter.  She  went 
and  looked  into  the  door  of  the  lodge, 


and  there  saw  the  woman  with  the 
body  of  the  boy  on  the  fire,  singeing 
his  hair  off.  She  said  to  her,  '  Come 
in,  and  get  some — it  is  good ;'  and 
narrated  to  her  mother  how  she  had 
killed  the  boy. 

"  The  old  woman  returned,  and 
informed  the  old  man  what  had  taken 
place.  He  went  to  the  lodge  with 
his  gun,  and  shot  her.  lie  did  not 
kill  her  immediately,  but  despatched 
her  with  an  axe.  Before  this  hap- 
pened, there  were  two  men  with 
their  wives  encamped  in  the  same 
vicinity.  One  of  the  men  was  led 
to  mistrust  that  they  were  eating  the 
children,  from  the  fact  of  their  being 
missed,  and  also  from  the  signs  of 
plenty  indicated  by  the  personal  ap- 
pearance of  the  women.  He  told 
the  other  what  he  suspected,  and 
expressed  a  desire  to  go  to  some 
other  place,  and  asked  him  to  raise 
camp,  and  leave  with  him. 

"  He  agreed  to  leave,  and  request- 
ed the  other  to  go  and  encamp  at  a 
spot  named,  saying  that  he  would 
join  him  next  day.  He  waited  at 
the  place  appointed  several  days, 
and  ultimately  moved  on  without 
him.  The  man  and  wife,  who  re- 
mained, have  never  been  heard  from. 

"  A  blanket,  recognised  as  belong- 


DEBATE  ON  SCHOOL  LANDS.  553 

A  spirited  debate  occurred  on  February  sixth,  1851, 
in  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States, 
previous  to  the  passage  of  the  bill  granting  two  to^vn- 
ships  of  land  for  the  use  and  support  of  a  University  in 
Oregon  and  Minnesota,  and  authorizing  the  legislatures 
of  those  territories  to  make  necessary  laws  to  protect 
the  school  sections. 

The  bill  before  the  House  also  granted  to  Oregon  and 
Minnesota  the  privilege  of  leasing  their  school  lands  for 
four  years  before  they  were  sold. 

Mr.  Bowlin,  of  Missouri,  chairman  of  the  committee 
on  public  lands,  moved  that  all  relating  to  the  leasing 
of  the  lands  should  be  stricken  out.  Mr.  Sibley,  in 
reply,  contended  that  the  provision  in  the  bill  was 
almost  an  exact  transcript  of  acts  that  had  been  passed 
in  relation  to  Michigan  and  Wisconsin. 

The  second  section  of  the  bill  provided,  that  when  a 
bond  fide  settlement  was  made  on  any  school  sections 
previous  to  survey,  that  the  settler  should  have  the 
right  to  enter  the  land. 

Mr.  Wentworth,  of  Illinois,  was  opposed  to  touching 
the  school  lands.     He  remarked: — 

"When  a  man  squats  upon  the  school  lands,  there 
is  a  higher  law  that  takes  him  off.  So  far  as  I  am  con- 
cerned, whenever  a  territorial  bill  comes  up  here  con- 
taining a  provision  in  relation  to  school  lands  similar  to 
that  contained  in  this,  I  shall  feel  compelled  to  oppose 
it.     I  would  leave  the  matter  to  the   townships.     If 

ing  to  them,  was  found   near  the  winter,  and  finding  out  what  had 

place.     It  is  supposed  that  they  met  been  done  with  his  children,  killed 

the  same  fate  as  the  children,  his  wife  with  his  knife  and  toma- 

"  The  hu8l)and  of  the  surviving  hawk.    The  old  people,  and  the  man 

woman   returned   to    his   lodge,   at  who    killed    his  wife,   returned   to 

Itasca  Lake,  in  the  latter  part  of  Leech  Lake,  where  they  now  are." 


554  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

when  the  townships  are  organized  they  choose  to  let 
men  squat  on  their  school  lands,  it  is  their  business,  not 
the  business  of  Congress.  I  remember  well,  that  in 
order  to  encourage  education  in  the  Territory  of  Min- 
nesota, we  gave  them  another  section,  twice  as  much  as 
other  states  have  received;  and  now  they  come  here 
and  ask  us  to  give  settlers  the  privilege  of  squatting  on 
those  lands.  I  should  have  been  willing  to  have  given 
them  twice  as  much  land  as  they  have  received  for 
school  purposes;  but  I  would  not  have  voted  to  give 
them  any,  if  I  had  thought  squatters  should  settle  on 
the  lands  before  they  were  surveyed." 

Mr.  Stevens,  of  Pennsylvania,  moved  to  strike  out 
the  word  "  Minnesota"  from  the  section.     He  said : — 

"  I  make  this  motion,  for  the  purpose  of  destroying 
the  section.  I  understand  the  law  to  be,  that  any  man 
who  squats  upon  the  public  land,  in  any  of  the  new 
states  or  territories,  before  it  is  surveyed,  is  entitled  to 
no  pre-emption  right.  He  is  a  wrongdoer,  a  trespasser. 
But  if  he  settles  down  after  the  land  is  surveyed,  he 
gets  his  pre-emption  right.  This  section  proposes  to 
give  to  this  wrongdoer  a  right  to  take  possession  of  the 
lands  devoted  to  sacred  charity,  if  I  may  call  it  charity, 
for  school  purposes.  *  *  *  *  I  believe  there  is  no 
law  which  gives  a  right  of  pre-emption  to  settlers  upon 
unsurveyed  lands.    I  may  be  wrong  in  this." 

Mr.  Fitch — "You  are  decidedly  wrong." 

Mr.  Stevens — "I  am  informed  by  a  gentleman  be- 
hind me,  who,  I  believe,  is  right,  that  there  is  no  law 
which  gives  a  right  to  unsurveyed  land  but  the  ^higher 
law,'  which  the  gentleman  from  Minnesota  speaks  of, 
the  law  of  the  bowie-knife.  Now,  I  think  that  we 
ought  not  to  recognise  that  kind  of  higher  law  at  any 


MR.  SIBLEY  ON  THE  HIGHER  LAW.  555 

rate.  If  we  are  to  recognise  a  higher  law  above,  we 
are  not  at  any  rate  to  recognise  a  higher  law  below.  I 
cannot  go  for  that.    I  hope  the  whole  bill  will  be  killed." 

Mr.  Sibley,  in  reply,  said : — 

"  That  the  '  higher  law'  to  which  he  had  referred  was 
not  any  law  of  violence,  nor  that  of  the  bowie  knife,  as 
stated  by  the  gentleman  from  Pennsylvania,  nor  a  law 
from  below,  but  the  law  of  public  opinion,  of  public 
sentiment ;  a  higher  law  which  he  believed  existed  else- 
where in  this  country  as  well  as  in  Minnesota." 

Mr.  Stevens's  motion  prevailed.  Mr.  Bowlin  of  Mis- 
souri moved  to  strike  out  all  in  the  bill  relative  to  the 
leasing  of  the  lands,  which  was  agreed  to,  and  the  bill 
passed  in  a  modified  form. 

During  the  Legislature  the  publication  of  the  "  Chroni- 
cle and  Eegister"  ceased. 

About  the  middle  of  May  a  war  party  of  Dahkotahs 
discovered  near  Swan  river  an  Ojibway  with  a  keg  of 
whiske}'.  The  latter  escaped  with  the  loss  of  his  keg. 
The  war  party,  drinking  the  contents,  became  intoxi- 
cated, and,  firing  upon  some  teamsters  they  met  driving 
their  wagons  with  goods  to  the  Lidian  Agency,  killed 
one  of  them,  Andrew  Swartz,  a  resident  of  St.  Paul. 
The  news  was  conveyed  to  Fort  Piipley,  and  a  party 
of  soldiers,  with  Hole-in-the-Day  as  a  guide,  started  in 
pursuit  of  the  murderers,  but  did  not  succeed  in  captur- 
ing them.  Through  the  influence  of  Little  Six,  the  Dali- 
kotah  chief,  whose  village  was  at,  and  named  after  him, 
Shokpay,  five  of  the  offenders  were  arrested  and  placed 
in  the  guard-house  at  Fort  Snelling.  On  Monday,  June 
ninth,  they  left  the  fort  in  a  wagon  guarded  by  twent}-- 
five  dragoons,  destined  for  Sauk  Rapids  for  trial.  As 
they  departed  they  all  sung  their  death  song,  and  tlio 


556  UISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

coarse  soldiers  amused  themselves  by  making  signs  that 
they  were  going  to  be  hung.  On  the  first  evening  of 
the  journey  the  five  culprits  encamped  with  the  twenty- 
five  dragoons.  Handcuffed,  they  were  placed  in  the 
tent,  and  yet  at  midnight  they  all  escaped,  only  one 
being  wounded  hy  the  guard.  What  was  more  remark- 
able, the  wounded  man  was  the  first  to  bring  the  news 
to  St.  Paul.  Proceeding  to  Kaposia,  his  wound  was 
examined  by  Dr.  "Williamson,  and  then  fearing  an 
arrest,  he  took  a  canoe  and  paddled  up  the  Minnesota. 
The  excuse  offered  by  the  dragoons  was,  that  all  the 
guard  but  one  fell  asleep.  Had  they  lived  in  ancient 
Rome  they  would  all  have  slept  the  sleep  of  death  for 
their  negligence. 

The  first  paper  published  in  Minnesota,  beyond  the 
capital,  was  the  St.  Anthony  Express,  which  made  its 
appearance  during  the  last  week  of  May. 

The  most  important  event  of  the  year  1851  was  the 
treaty  with  the  Dahkotahs,  by  which  the  west  side  of 
the  Mississippi  and  the  valley  of  the  Minnesota  river 
were  opened  to  the  enterprise  of  the  hardy  emigrant. 
The  commissioners  on  the  part  of  the  United  States 
were  Luke  Lea,  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  and 
Governor  Ramsey.  The  place  of  meeting  for  the 
upper  bands  was  Traverse  des  Sioux.  The  commis- 
sion arrived  there  on  the  last  of  June,  but  were  obliged 
to  wait  many  days  for  the  assembling  of  the  various 
bands  of  Dahkotahs. 

Steps  had  been  taken  for  the  observance  of  the  fourth 
of  July,  by  those  associated  with  the  commissioners,  but 
that  day  proved  to  be  one  of  sadness.  Mr.  Goodhue, 
who  was  on  the  spot,  writes  to  the  "  Pioneer,"  of  which 
he  was  the  editor  : — 


REV.  MR.  HOPKINS'  DEATH  BY  DROWNING.  557 

"  Instead  of  the  joyous  festivities  we  had  this  day 
anticipated,  the  sudden  death,  by  dro'v\Tiing,  this  morn- 
ing, before  breakfast,  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hopkins,  resident 
missionary  here,  has  thrown  over  our  whole  encampment 
a  shadow  of  gloom.  A  multitude  of  men  and  women 
of  both  races  ran  to  the  spot  to  search  the  water  for  his 
body.  His  clothes  were  found  upon  the  bank  of  the 
river,  or,  rather,  the  bank  of  a  slough,  near  the  bed  of 
a  pretty  strong  current  of  water.  A  little  Indian  girl 
says  she  saw  him  wading  breast  deep  toward  shore,  and 
that  looking  again,  after  filling  her  pail  with  water,  she 
saw  only  his  hands  above  water.  As  he  could  not  swim, 
he  was,  doubtless,  drowned  by  wading  into  a  deep  hole. 
Search  has  been  made  all  day  with  nets  and  hooks,  and 
by  Indians  diving,  but,  as  yet,  in  vain.  Mr.  Hopkins  was 
a  good  man,  and  left  a  most  amiable  wife,  and  four 
children."  Under  date  of  July  seventh,  he  writes  : — 
"  Suddenly,  news  arrives  in  camp  that  the  body  of  the 
lamented  Mr.  Hopkins  is  caught  in  a  drag-net;  and, 
instantly,  the  most  of  our  company,  and  hundreds  of 
Indians,  are  running  from  all  directions  to  the  spot. 
The  body  being  washed  was  removed  to  the  mission- 
house,  amid  much  silent  grief,  while  a  very  aged  squaw- 
indulged  in  piteous  lamentations,  which  affected  every 
listener,  saying,  '  He  was  my  son ;  he  was  very  kind  to 
me ;  he  provided  for  me  when  I  was  hungry  and  needy.' 
This  afternoon  we  are  engaged  in  the  mournful  duty  of 
burying  this  good  man,  who,  buried  in  the  seclusion  of 
savage  life,  spent  the  flower  of  his  days  in  a  work  as 
disinterested  as  that  which  made  Howard  immortal." 

For  several  days  there  had  been  violent  rains  and 
thunderstorms,  and  the  Dahkotahs  supposed  that  the 
Great  Thunder  Bird  had  dashed  his  wing  upon  the  head 


558  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

of  the  Blue  Earth  river,  and  broken  up  fountains  Avhich 
had  caused  the  rise  in  the  waters.  One  day  there 
was  a  propitiatory  dance  to  Wahkeenj'an,  the  God  of 
Thunder. 

On  the  afternoon  of  July  twelfth  the  dance  was  com- 
menced. The  spot  selected  was  nearly  a  half  mile  from 
the  river  bank.  The  commissioners  and  their  party, 
and  perhaps  one  thousand  Dahkotahs,  were  present. 
The  dance  was  performed  within  a  circular  enclosure 
made  of  the  limbs  of  the  aspen  stuck  in  the  ground, 
interwoven  with  four  arched  gateways,  forming  an  area 
like  a  large  circus.  A  pole  was  planted  in  the  middle 
of  the  area,  with  an  image  cut  out  of  bark,  designed  to 
represent  the  Thunder  Bird,  suspended  by  a  string  at  the 
top.  At  each  of  the  arched  gateways  stood  another 
pole  and  image  of  the  same  description,  but  smaller 
than  the  one  in  the  centre.  Near  the  foot  of  the  cen- 
tral pole  was  a  little  arbour  of  aspen  bushes,  in  which 
sat  an  ugly-looking  Indian  with  his  face  blackened,  and 
a  wig  of  green  grass  over  his  head,  who  acted  as  sorcerer, 
and  uttered  incantations  with  fervent  unction,  and  beat 
the  drum,  and  played  on  the  Indian  flute,  and  sung  by 
turns,  to  regulate  the  various  evolutions  of  the  dance. 
Before  this  arbour,  at  the  foot  of  the  central  pole,  were 
various  mystical  emblems ;  the  image  of  a  running  buf- 
falo cut  out  of  bark,  with  his  legs  stuck  in  the  ground, 
also  a  pipe  and  a  red  stone  shaped  something  like  a  head, 
with  some  coloured  down.  At  a  given  signal  by  the 
conjurer,  the  young  men  sprang  in  through  the  gate- 
ways, and  commenced  a  circular  dance  in  procession 
around  the  conjurer,  who  continued  to  sing  and  beat 
his  drum.  After  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes,  the  dancers 
ran  out  of  the  ring,  returning  after  a  short  respite.    The 


THUNDER  BIRD  CEREMONIES.  559 

third  time  a  few  horsemen,  in  very  gay  fantastic  costume, 
accompanied  the  procession  of  dancers  who  were  within, 
by  riding  outside  of  the  enclosure.  The  last  time  a 
multitude  of  bo^^s  and  girls  joined  the  band  of  dancers 
in  the  area,  and  many  more  horsemen  joined  the  caval- 
cade that  rode  around  the  area,  some  dressed  in  blue 
embroidered  blankets,  others  in  white.  Suddenly  seve- 
ral rifles  were  discharged  at  the  poles  upon  which  the 
Thunder  Birds  were  suspended,  knockmg  them  down, 
and  the  sacred  dance  ended. 

On  the  eighteenth  of  July,  all  those  expected  having 
arrived,  the  Sissetoans  and  Wahpaytoan  Dahkotahs  as- 
sembled in  grand  council  with  the  United  States  com- 
missioners. After  the  usual  feastings  and  speeches,  a 
treaty  was  concluded  on  Wednesday,  July  twenty-third. 
The  pipe  having  been  smoked  by  the  commissioners, 
Lea  and  Ramsey,  it  was  passed   to  the  chiefs.     The 

^  The   treaty  is  in  substance  as  ten  miles  on  each  side  to  Lac  Tra- 

foUows : —  verse. 

Perpetual  peace.  The      Indians     are    to     receive 

The  cession  of  all  the  Sioux  lands  §1,665,000,  as  follows: 
east  of  Sioux  river  and  Lac  Traverse.        To  be  paid  after  their  removal  to 

The   line   then   runs   up   the    head  the  reservation,  $275,000,  and 
waters  of  Otter  Tail  Lake,  thence        To  be  expended  in  breaking  land, 

down  from  the  head  of  Watab  river  erecting    mills,     and     establishing 

to  tlie  Mississippi.  manual     labour    schools,    §30,000, 

The  cession  embraces   the  entire  amounting  to  §305,000. 
valley  of  the   Minnesota,   and   the        The  balance  of  §1,360,000  to  be  in- 
eastern    tributaries    of    the    Sioux  vested  at  five  per  cent,  for  fifty  years, 
river,  and   is  estimated  to  contain  which  will  give  an  annual  income 
21,000,000  acres.  of  §08,000,  to  be  paid  as  follows : 

The   Indians  reserve   a  tract  on         In  cash,  annually  §40,000 

the  Minnesota,  about  one    hundred         Goods  and  provisions,       10,000 
miles    in    length,    and    twenty    in         Civilization  fund,  12,000 

breadth.     This   reserve   commences        Education,  0,000 

at  the  mouth   of  Yellow  Medicine  

river,  and  extends  up  the  Minnesota  68,000 


560  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

paper  containing  the  treaty '  was  then  read  in  EngUsh, 
and  translated  into  the  Dahkotah  by  the  Rev.  S.  R. 
Riggs.  This  finished,  the  chiefs  came  up  to  the  secre- 
tary's table  and  touched  the  pen ;  the  white  men  pre- 
sent then  witnessed  the  document,  and  nothing  remained 
but  the  ratification  of  the  United  States  Senate  to  open 
that  vast  country  for  the  residence  of  the  hardy  emi- 
grant. 

During  the  first  week  in  August,  a  treaty  was  also 
concluded  beneath  an  oak  bower,  on  Pilot  Knob,  Men- 
dota,  with  the  M'dewakantonwan  and  Wahpaykootay 
bands  of  Dahkotahs.  About  sixty  of  the  chiefs  and 
principal  men  touched  the  pen,  and  Little  Crow,  who 
had  been  in  the  mission-school  at  Lac  qui  Parle,  signed 
his  own  name.  Before  they  separated,  Colonel  Lea  and 
Governor  Ramsey  gave  them  a  few  words  of  advice  on 
various  subjects  connected  with  their  future  well-being, 
but  particularly  on  the  subject  of  education  and  tempe- 
rance. The  treaty  was  interpreted  to  them  by  the  Rev. 
G.  H.  Pond,  a  gentleman  universally  conceded  to  be  the 
most  correct  speaker  of  the  Dahkotah  tongue  of  any 
who  are  not  natives. 

The  day  after  the  treaty  these  lower  bands  received 
thirty  thousand  dollars,  which,  by  the  treaty  of  1837, 
was  set  apart  for  education ;  but,  by  the  misrepresenta- 
tions of  interested  half-breeds,  the  Indians  were  made 
to  believe  that  it  ought  to  be  given  to  them  to  be  em- 
ployed as  they  pleased. 

The  next  week,  with  their  sacks  filled  with  money. 

After  fifty  years  all  payments  to  relates  to  the  introduction  and  sale 

cease,  and  the  principal  of  §1,360,000  of  ardent  spirits,  shall  be  continued 

to  revert  to  the  government.  in  full  force,  until  changed  by  legal 

The  intercourse  laws,  so   far  as  authority. 


INDIANS  AT  THE  HORSE  MARKET.  561 

they  thronged  the  streets  of  St.  Paul,  purchasing  what- 
ever pleased  their  fancy.  Many  desired  horses.  Now 
an  Indian  always  purchases  a  horse  on  a  different  prin- 
ciple from  a  white  man.  If  he  desires  a  white  horse, 
all  other  considerations  are  secondary.  He  may  be 
awkward  in  gait,  or  slow  in  motion ;  these  are  all  out- 
weighed by  the  colour  that  he  desires.  Another  one 
will  want  a  long-tailed  horse,  and,  if  such  an  animal 
can  be  found,  but  few  questions  are  asked  in  relation  to 
his  age  or  freedom  from  trick.  The  week  subsequent  to 
the  treaty  there  was  a  general  clearing  out  of  worn-out 
nags  from  the  livery  stables  of  the  capital ;  and,  when 
the  cavalcade  started  for  the  Indian  country,  in  John 
Gilpin  style,  it  was  a  scene  to  excite  the  laughter  of  a 
stoic.  Many  departed  empty-handed,  and,  if  they  had 
not  given  a  kingdom,  had  given  their  all  for  a  horse  that 
would  die,  under  Indian  treatment  and  grooming,  in  a 
few  months.* 

^  By  the  treaty  signed  at  Menclota,  expenses  of  their  removal,  and  settle 

August  fifth',  the  above-named  bands  their  affairs  generally, 

ceded  to  the  United  States  all  their  In  opening  farms,  erecting  mills, 

lauds  in  Minnesota  and  Io\va.  smith-shops,  and  school-houses,  is  to 

A  reserve  is  granted  them  on  the  be  expended  thirty  thousand  dollars. 

Minnesota    river,    commencing     at  In  annuities  to  be  continued  fifty 

Little   Rock,   which   is   about  fifty  years : 

miles   by   land   from    Traverse  des  In  agricultural  fund      .     $12,000 

Sioux,  and  extending  up  the  river  In  goods  and  provisions       10,000 

ten  miles  wide  on  each  side  to  Yel-  lu  education    ....         6,000 

low  Medicine  and  C'hatanba  rivers,         In  cash 30,000 

to  which  they  are  to  remove  within  By  the  two  treaties  concluded  be- 

one  year  after  the  ratification  of  the  tween   the   United   States  and  four 

treaty.  divisions    of    the    Dahkotah    tribe. 

On  the  ratification  of  the  treaty,  about  thirty  millions  of  acres  of 
the  chiefs  were  paid  the  sum  of  two  land  have  been  added  to  the  posses- 
hundred  and  twenty  thousand  dul-  sions  of  the  United  States,  and  most 
lars,  to  be  used  by  them  in  the  pur-  of  it  is  in  Minnesota.  Much  of  it  is 
chase  of  provisions,  to  defray  tlie  of  an  excellent  quality,  well  tim- 
36 


5C2  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

A  few  days  before  the  treaties,  one  of  the  Dahkotah 
missionaries  at  Shokpay's  village,  now  a  flourishing 
town,  the  county  seat  oT  Scott  county,  Avrites  : — 

"  Our  situation  is  in  many  respects  unpleasant.  We 
have  no  persons  residing  with  us,  and  no  white  neigh- 
bours within  sixteen  miles.  This  is  much  the  largest 
band  of  the  Dahkotahs,  on  the  Mmnesota  or  Mississippi, 
and  they  all  dwell  within  a  hundred  rods  of  our  door, 
some  of  them  much  nearer.  We  have  great  reason  to 
be  thankful  for  the  degree  of  peace  and  security  we 
enjoy  whilst  living  in  the  midst  of  so  many  savages; 
but  we  are  continually  annoyed  in  a  thousand  ways. 
They  are  almost  universally  thieves  and  beggars ;  and, 
though  we  endeavour  to  have  as  little  property  exposed 
as  possible,  we  are  obliged  to  be  continually  on  the 
watch.  My  wife  has  been  only  a  mile  from  home  in 
three  years,  and,  when  the  Indians  are  here,  I  seldom 
go  out  of  sight  of  the  house,  unless  I  am  obliged  to  do 
so.  Few  days  pass  in  which  they  do  not  commit  some 
depredation.  I  do  not  mention  these  things  by  way  of 
complaint.  We  are  annoyed  much  less  than  we  might 
reasonably  expect  in  such  circumstances ;  and  we  should 
feel  contented  and  cheerful  in  our  situation,  if  the  In- 
dians would  only  listen  to  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  and 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ." 

On  the  seventeenth  of  September,  a  new  paper  was 
commenced  in  St.  Paul,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
"  Whigs,"  and  John  P.  Owens  became  editor,  which 
relation  he  sustained  until  the  fall  of  1857. 

The   election   for   members   of  the   legislature   and 

bered  and  well  watered.  It  is  an  the  rocks  and  hills.  Here  is  room 
inviting  country  to  cramped-up  New  enough,  a  rich  soil,  and  healthy 
England  farmers,  who  dig   among    climate. 


FIRST  DEMOCRATIC  TICKET. 


5G3 


county  officers  occurred  on  the  fourteenth  of  October; 
and,  for  the  first  time,  a  regular  Democratic  ticket  was 
placed  before  the  people.  The  parties  called  themselves 
Democratic  and  Anti-organization,  or  Coalition. 

In  the  month  of  November  Jerome  Fuller  arrived, 
and  took  the  place  of  Judge  Goodrich  as  Chief  Justice 
of  Minnesota;  and,  about  the  same  time,  Alexander 
Wilkin  was  appointed  secretary  of  the  territory  in  place 
of  C.  K.  Smith. 

The  eighteenth  of  December,  pursuant  to  proclama- 
tion, was  observed  as  a  day  of  thanksgiving.' 


^A  Proclamation,  by  Alexander  Ram- 
sey, Governor  of  the  Territory  of 
Minnesota. 

"  The  Harvest  is  past,  the  Sum- 
mer is  ended ;"  the  corn  and  the 
•wheat  that  stood  thick  upon  our 
fruitful  soil,  have  been  "  gathered 
into  the  garner."  Once  more,  "  cold 
out  of  the  North"  has  come  ;  "  frost 
is  given,  and  the  breadth  of  the  wa- 
ters is  straitened."  Before  the  year 
closes,  it  seems  a  becoming  act  for 
the  people  of  Minnesota,  by  public 
assembly  and  solemn  observance,  to 
unite  in  giving  thanks  to  Him  "  who 
crowneth  the  year  with  goodness," 
and  whose  blessings  "are  more  in 
number  than  the  sand." 


In  accordance,  therefore,  with  a 
time-honoured,  and  now  general  cus- 
tom of  the  states  of  the  Republic,  I 
respectfully  recommend  to  the  peo- 
ple of  this  territory  the  observ- 
ance, in  the  way  that  to  them  is 
most  appropriate,  of  Thursday,  the 
eighteenth  day  of  December,  as  a 
day  of  Praise  and  Thanksgiving. 

Given  under  my  hand,  and  the 
great  seal  of  the  Territory, 
at  St.  Paul,  this  third  day  of 
December,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
fifty-one. 

Alex.  Ramsey. 
By  the  Governor: 

Alexander  Wilkin,  Secretary. 


[seal.] 


564 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

The  third  Legislative  Assembly  commenced  its  ses- 
sions in  one  of  the  edifices  on  Third  below  Jackson 
street,  which  now  forms  a  portion  of  the  Merchants' 
Hotel,  on  the  seventh  of  January,  1852.^ 


1  Councillors. 

No.  of  District.        Residence. 

Occupation. 

Elam  Greeley, .     . 

.      I      . 

Near  Stillwater. 

1).  B.  Loomis,  .     . 

.      1      . 

Marine,      .     .     .     , 

Lumber  Merchant 

G.  W.  Farrington, 

.     2    . 

St.  Paul 

Merchant. 

William  II.  Forbes, 

.    2    . 

.     .     .     . 

Indian  Trader. 

"W.  L.  Larned, 

.    3     . 

St.  Anthony. 

L.  A.  Babcock, 

.    4    . 

St.  Paul 

Lawyer. 

S.  B.  Lowry,    .     . 

.    5     . 

Watab, 

Indian  Trader. 

Martin  McLeod,   .     . 

.    6     . 

Oak  Grove,      .     .     . 

Indian  Trader. 

N.  W.  Kittson,     .     . 

.    7    . 

Pembina,    .     .     .     . 

Indian  Trader. 

Representatives. 

Mahlon  Leavitt,    . 

.    1    . 

Stillwater,  .    .     .     . 

Lumber  Dealer. 

Mahlon  Black, 

.    1    . 

.     .     .     . 

Lumber  Dealer. 

Jesse  Taylor,    .     . 

.    1    . 

" 

John  D.  Ludden,  . 

.    1    . 

Marine,       .     .     .     . 

Lumber  Dealer. 

Charles  S.  Cave,   . 

.    2    . 

St.  Paul,     .... 

Saloon  Keeper. 

W.  P.  Murray,     . 

.    2     . 

(( 

Lawyer. 

S.  D.  Findlay, .     . 

2 

Near  Fort  Snelling, 

Indian  Trader. 

J.  W.  Selby,    .     . 

.    2    . 

St.  Paul 

Farmer. 

J.  E.  Fullerton,     . 

.    2    . 

.     .     .     . 

Merchant. 

S.  W.  Farnham,    . 

.    3     . 

St.  Anthony,  .     .     . 

Lumberman. 

J.  H.  Murphy, 

.     .    3     . 

"             .     .     . 

Physician, 

F.  S.  Richards,     . 

.    .    4    . 

Lake  Pepin,    .     .     . 

Trader. 

ST.  PETER'S  DISCONTINUED  IN  PUBLIC  DOCUMENTS.        565 

This  session,  compared  with  the  previous,  formed  a 
contrast  as  great  as  that  between  a  boisterous  day  in 
March  and  a  calm  June  morning.  The  minds  of  the 
population  were  more  deeply  interested  in  the  ratifica- 
tion of  the  treaties  made  with  the  Dahkotahs,  than  in 
political  discussions.  Among  other  legislation  of  interest 
was  the  creation  of  Hennepin  county,  the  passage  of  an 
act  punishing  trespassers  on  school  lands,  and  the  post- 
ponement of  the  election  of  delegate  to  Congress  until 
October,  1853.  An  important  liquor  law  was  also 
passed,  subject  to  a  vote  of  the  people,  similar  in  its 
provisions  to  what  is  known  as  the  Maine  Liquor  Law. 
The  election  was  ordered  to  be  held  on  the  first  Monday 
of  April,  and  if  the  majority  of  citizens  were  in  favour, 
it  was  to  be  in  force  after  the  first  of  May. 

Among  the  memorials  to  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  was  one  relative  to  the  name  of  the  Minnesota 
river.  Ever  since  the  acquisition  of  this  country  by 
the  United  States,  it  had  been  called  the  St.  Pierre  by 
the  French  voyageurs,  and  Anglicized  by  the  Americans 
into  St.  Peter's.  The  memorial  states  that  the  stream 
was  named  after  Mons.  St.  Pierre,  who  was  never  in 
this  country,  which  is  incorrect.  It  then  asserts  "  that 
Minnesota  is  the  true  name  of  this  stream,  as  given  to 
it  in  ages  past,  by  the  strong  and  powerful  tribes  of 


RepresentatiTes. 

James  Bcatty, 
David  Day,  .  . 
James  McBoal, 
B.  II.  Randall, 
Joseph  Rolette, 
Antoine  Giugras, 


No.  of  District.        Ttesidence. 


Itasca,    .     .     . 
Long  Prairie, 
Mendota,    .     . 
Fort  Snelling, 
Pembina,    .     . 


Occupation. 

Farmer. 

Physician. 

Painter. 

Clerk. 

Clerk. 

Hunter. 


566  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

aborigines,  the  Dahkotahs,  who  dwelt  upon  its  banks, 
and,  that  not  only  to  assimilate  the  name  of  the  river 
with  that  of  the  territory  and  future  state  of  Minnesota, 
but  to  follow  what  we  conceive  to  be  the  dictates  of  a 
correct  taste,  and  to  show  a  proper  regard  for  the 
memory  of  the  great  nation  whose  homes  and  country 
our  people  are  soon  to  possess,  we  desire  that  it  should 
be  so  designated."  The  memorial  was  considered  by  the 
Senate,  and  a  law  passed  ordering  the  word  St.  Peter's 
to  be  discontinued  in  public  documents,  and  Minnesota 
employed  in  its  place. 

The  first  report  of  the  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction  was  presented  at  this  session.  As  a  portion 
of  it  may  be  interesting  to  the  future  educators  of  the 
state,  we  insert  extracts. 

"  Owing  to  the  rapid  increase  of  population  in  dis- 
tricts Nos.  2  and  3,  in  the  county  of  Ramsey,  the  pre- 
sent school  accommodations  have  proved  wholly  inade- 
quate. About  the  close  of  the  past  year,  it  became 
necessary  for  the  trustees  of  each  district  to  rent  a 
room  and  employ  a  female  assistant  teacher  to  instruct 
the  less  advanced  pupils. 

"  Before  another  year  elapses,  it  may  be  found  that 
the  present  school-houses  in  Stillwater,  St.  Anthony, 
and  St.  Paul,  are  too  contracted ;  but  it  is  hoped  that 
there  will  be  no  unnecessary  multiplication  of  school 
districts  in  these  towns.  The  money  necessary  to  build 
two  small  school-houses  in  different  parts  of  a  town,  can 
be  much  more  advantageously  employed  in  erecting  a 
single  edifice  upon  some  central  and  commanding  site, 
containing  several  rooms. 

"In  this  way,  a  town  not  only  secures  a  building 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  INSTRUCTION.  567 

that  is  attractive  to  the  sight,  but,  by  employing  a  male 
principal,  with  a  female  assistant  or  assistants,  consi- 
derably reduces  the  expenses  of  education. 

"  As  there  are  already  towns  that  have  more  than 
one  district,  your  attention  is  called  to  the  propriety 
of  introducing  a  section  in  the  school  law,  allowing  pri- 
mary school  districts  in  the  same  town,  the  privilege  of 
establishing  a  grammar  school  for  the  older  and  more 
advanced  children  of  their  several  districts. 

"  And  in  this  connexion  it  may  be  well  to  suggest  the 
repeal  of  all  laws  granting  to  school  districts  the  power 
of  conferring  degrees  or  granting  diplomas.  To  grant 
such  high  powers  to  the  trustees  of  a  common  school 
district,  who  are  elected  annually,  not  by  those  who  feel 
a  lively  interest  in  education,  but  '  by  every  inhabitant 
over  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  who  shall  have  resided 
in  any  school  district  for  three  months  immediately  pre- 
ceding any  district  meeting,  and  who  shall  have  paid, 
or  shall  be  liable  to  pay,  any  taxes,  except  road  taxes,' 
is  to  degrade  education,  and  burlesque  the  University 
of  Minnesota,  to  whose  regents  such  powers  more  pro- 
perly l^elong. 

"  The  buildings  that  have  been  erected  for  school  pur- 
poses are  far  in  advance  of  the  log  huts  that  were  for- 
merly erected  by  pioneer  settlers,  as  school-rooms  for 
their  '  little  ones,'  and  which  even  the  cows  of  the 
farmer  might  blush  to  own  as  their  resting  place. 

"  In  saying  this,  however,  it  is  not  to  be  understood 
that  they  can  receive  no  improvement.  Nearly  all,  like 
the  barns,  remain  unpainted,  and  are  destitute  of  all 
those  surrounding  conveniences  which  are  so  necessary 
to  cultivate  neat  and  modest  habits   in  youth.     The 


568  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

trustees  have,  in  almost  every  instance,  neglected  to 
plant  shade  and  ornamental  trees,  and,  unless  some  care 
is  shown,  it  will  not  be  long  before  the  school-houses 
will  look  as  dilapidated  as  the  drunkard's  dwelling. 

"  It  is  strange  that  '  fathers  who  know  how  to  give 
good  gifts  to  their  children.'  almost  invariably  neglect 
to  furnish  their  oifspring  with  a  school-house  that  is  cal- 
culated to  make  the  associations  with  their  studies  plea- 
sant, or  to  teach  them  the  principles  of  correct  architec- 
ture, or  give  them  a  single  idea  of  beauty. 

"  '  Barnard's  School  Architecture'  is  a  book  that  a 
trifling  sum  will  purchase,  and,  in  the  erection  of  school- 
houses  in  our  new  settlements  and  villages,  it  is  desir- 
able that  the  trustees  should  follow  some  of  the  plans 
there  detailed.  It  is,  therefore,  suggested  that  the  trus- 
tees of  each  school  district  purchase  a  copy  for  the 
school  library.  Before  we  pass  from  the  subject  of 
school  architecture,  it  is  proper  to  call  your  attention 
to  the  importance  of  trustees  securing  larger  lots  for 
school  buildings. 

"  One  of  the  largest  school  lots  in  the  territory  is  that 
of  district  No.  5,  in  Ramsey  county,  and  yet  the  build- 
ing appears  to  be  squeezed  into  the  back  ground  by  the 
pressure  of  a  building  on  each  side. 

"  To  make  a  full  man,  the  boy  must  be  developed 
physically  as  well  as  intellectually;  and  the  village 
which  would  have  its  youth  prosper  most  in  school 
hours,  should  take  care  in  this  new  country,  where  land 
is  not  held  at  an  exorbitant  price,  that  the  school-house 
be  situated  in  the  centre  of  at  least  an  acre  lot.  No- 
thing raises  a  population  so  much  in  the  estimation  of  a 
traveller  or  emigrant,  as  to  see  a  crowd  of  boys  issuing 


SCHOOL  TEACHERS.— SCHOOL-HOUSES. 


569 


from  a  pleasant  school-house,  to  play  during  the  recess 
upon  a  capacious  lawn/ 

"  The  vocation  of  teacher  is  a  noble  one.  He  is  far 
from  being  a  drone  in  society,  but  is  eminently  one  of 
the  class  of  producers.  His  duties  are  such  as  often  to 
require  '  an  angel's  wisdom ;' 

"  For  he  does  the  work 
Deputed  by  the  parent,  still  uncheered 
By  that  rich  filial  love,  whose  magic  makes 
All  burdens  light." 

"  In  many  states  he  is  forbidden  the  social  position  to 
which,  if  competent,  he  is  entitled,  and  looked  upon  as 
a  servant,  rather  than  an  equal,  and  therefore  receives 
but  a  servant's  wages. 

*  Table  representing  the  condition  of  School  Districts  ?n  the  Territory  of 
Minnesota,  January,  1852. 


School-House— by 
whom  owned. 

When  built. 

Cost. 

Dimensions. 

Size  of  Lot. 

WASni.VGTO.N    Co. 

Point  Douglas, 
Cottage  Grove, 

Priv.  property 

16  by  18  ft. 

[No    school    buildinR 
erected,    or    school 
kept.] 

Stillwater, 
Marine  Mills, 

District 
do. 

184S 
now  building 

20  by  30  ft. 
20  by  30  ft. 

50  by  150  ft. 
75  by  150  ft. 

Benton  County. 

[No  returns  receiveil.] 

Ramsey  County. 

District,         No.  1. 
St.  Paul,          "    2. 

do.               "    3. 

do.               "    4. 

District 
Priv.  individual 

[No  returns.] 

1850 
1848 

$600 
$400 

18  by  36  ft. 
20  by  24  ft. 

50  by  150  ft. 

St.  Anthony,   "    5. 

do.           "    6. 

District            "    7. 

do.                "    8. 

District 
Nono 

[No  returns.] 

1849 

1 

$600 

24  by  34  ft. 

l-4tb  acre. 

570  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

"  Immediately  after  the  organization  of  our  school  dis- 
tricts, the  ground  was  taken  by  the  friends  of  education, 
that  so  valuable  a  member  of  society  as  the  faithful 
teacher  should  receive  at  least  the  wages  of  an  ordinary 
day  labourer." 

On  Saturday,  the  fourteenth  of  February,  a  dog-train 
arrived  at  St.  Paul  from  the  north,  with  the  dis- 
tinguished Arctic  explorer.  Dr.  Ray.  He  had  been  in 
search  of  the  long-missing  Sir  John  Franklin,  by  way 
of  the  Mackenzie  river,  and  was  now  on  his  way  to 
England. 

During  the  same  month.  Captain  Simpson,  of  the 
Corps  of  Topographical  Engineers,  United  States  Arm}^, 
made  the  first  reconnoissance  of  the  country  between 
Watab  and  the  Winnebago  Agency  at  Long  Prairie. 
One  of  the  party  gives  a  sketch  of  the  exploration  in 
the  Minnesota  Pioneer  : — 

"  Securing  for  guides  the  noted  old  Ojibway,  of  Crow 
Wing,  White  Fisher,  and  a  half-breed,  Johnson,  the 
party  and  guides  started  from  Sauk  Rapids,  on  Monday, 
February  second.  On  the  next  Thursday  evening  they 
camped  on  a  little  branch  of  Two  Rivers.  The  next 
Friday,  the  fifth  daj'  out,  came  into  a  high  maple  region, 
and  one  large  marsh,  which  they  crossed  on  the  ice ; 
but  on  examination,  discovered  where  two  points  of 
high  timber  ground  approximated  each  other;  and  here 
one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  of  log-way  might  be  neces- 
sary. After  this,  it  was  all  maple  high  land  until  they 
camped. 

"  The  next  day,  Saturday,  they  only  proceeded  three 
miles,  crossing  one  little  stream,  and  encamped  at  the 
Birch  Bark  Fort  Lake,  on  a  singular  neck  of  land  be- 
tween the  lake  and  a  succession  of  marshes  extending 


COUNTRY  BETWEEN  WATAB  AND  LONG  PRAIRIE.  571 

far  to  the  northward.  Here  they  remained  until  Tues- 
day, one  of  the  number  returning  to  Sauk  Rapids  with 
the  team  for  further  supplies.  They  found  here  a  camp 
of  ten  lodges  of  Chippewas,  who  were  living  fat  on 
plenty  of  white  fish,  and  a  bear  they  had  just  killed. 
The  country  on  this  part  of  the  route  seemed  alive  with 
game — deer  tracks  and  other  tracks  in  every  direction. 
So  far  from  the  Winnebago  country  being  destitute  of 
game,  it  is  full  of  it;  but  the  tribe  are  too  indolent  to 
hunt  it.  Birch  Bark  Fort  they  calculated  was  from 
twenty  to  twenty-four  miles  from  the  Rapids;  while  it 
was  about  fifteen  miles  further  to  the  Agency.  It  is  a 
noted  Indian  pass — the  remains  of  two  war  forts  con- 
structed of  birch  trees  being  seen  in  the  vicinity.  One 
was  erected  a  great  many  years  ago  by  the  Sioux ;  and 
the  other  more  recently  by  Strong  Ground,  the  brother 
of  old  Hole-in-the-Day. 

^'  Starting  again  on  Tuesday,  their  route  that  day  was 
over  high  rolling  dry  land,  all  the  way,  with  occasion- 
ally a  little  run  to  cross ;  they  made  but  six  miles  and 
camped.  The  next  day,  Wednesdaj^,  the  route  con- 
tinued good — only  meeting  one  place,  where  log-waying, 
about  one  hundred  feet,  will  be  required.  They  now 
came  to  a  magnificent  and  beautiful  sheet  of  water, 
some  fifteen  miles  in  length,  and  five  or  six  wide,  the 
northern  shore  rising  almost  into  mountainous  height; 
the  water  clear  and  transparent,  and  abounding  in 
luscious  white-fish;  and  beautified  by  several  islands 
with  bluff  shores,  one  of  them  booming  mountain-like 
out  of  the  water  more  than  one  hundred  feet ;  and  all 
wooded  to  the  tops  with  red  cedar.  The  only  name  the 
Chippewas  have  for  this  fine  lake,  is  '  The  Lake  where 
there  is  Red  Cedar;'  but  there  being  a  dozen  lakes  of  this 


572  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

name,  besides  the  great  Red  Cedar  Lake  up  the  Missis- 
sippi, this  amounts  to  no  distinctive  name  at  all ;  and 
we  have,  therefore,  called  it  Neill's  Lake,  in  honour  of 
the  Rev.  Edward  D.  Neill,  of  St.  Paul,  Territorial 
Superintendent  of  Common  Schools.  A  large  unnamed 
lake,  with  islands  in  it,  which  is,  perhaps,  intended  to 
represent  Neill's  Lake,  is  set  down  in  Nicollet's  map 
(from  reports  of  Indians  merely — he  never  was  there), 
as  discharging  its  water  into  the  Watab  river.  This  is 
discovered  to  be  an  error.  It  really  empties  into  Sauk 
river. 

"  The  party  passed  to  the  northward  of  Neill's  Lake. 
The  next  day,  Thursday,  they  found  small,  open,  dry 
prairies,  for  four  miles  before  reaching  the  south-east 
corner  of  Round  Prairie,  and  thence  continuing  north- 
ward, they  arrived  without  further  difficulty  at  the 
Agency." 

The  election  on  the  first  Monday  in  April  for  the 
approval  or  rejection  of  the  Liquor  Law  interested  all 
classes  of  citizens.  It  was  a  theme  of  conversation  with 
mothers  and  daughters,  and  the  subject  of  discourses  in 
the  pulpits  of  both  the  Protestant  and  Roman  Catholic 
clergy,  all  heartily  co-operating.  When  it  was  disco- 
vered that  Ramsey  county  had  voted  in  favour  of  the 
law,  all  the  church  bells  at  the  capital  about  nine 
o'clock  at  night,  rang  a  simultaneous  peal  of  joy.^ 

Before  the  ratification  of  the  treaties  with  the  Dah- 
kotahs,  impatient  pioneers  had  gone  in  and  possessed 
the  land.     Among  the  earlier  settlements  commenced 


^  The  Vote  on  the  Liquor 

Law: — 

Counties.                        For. 

Aijainst. 

Counties. 

For. 

Apainst. 

Ramsey,     ....     528 

496 

Chisago,     .     .     . 

.      13 

3 

Washington,  ...     218 

68 

Benton  and  Cass, 

.      62 

91 

Dahkotah,       ...       32 

4 



853        662 


ROLLING  STONE  COLONY.— LAND  SLIDE.  573 

on  the  Minnesota,  were  those  of  Mahkahto,  Traverse 
des  Sioux,  Kasota,  Louisville,  and  Shokpay.  A  pioneer, 
by  the  name  of  Mackenzie,  had  a  claim  on  Eden  Prairie, 
and  near  by,  on  a  lake  in  the  woods,  were  other  claim- 
ants. The  first  settlement  of  any  magnitude,  on  the  west 
bank  of  the  Mississipj)i,  was  made  on  Rolling  Stone  Creek, 
just  above  Winona.  The  colony  was  from  New  York 
city  and  vicinity.  Inexperienced  in  frontier  life,  with 
theoretical  rather  than  practical  views,  many  of  them 
shrunk  from  the  hardships  which  every  pioneer  must 
endure,  others  sickened  and  died,  and  what  was  begun 
in  so  much  hope  soon  dwindled  away.  The  place  for 
the  town  was  not  judiciously  selected,  though  the  name, 
"  Rolling  Stone,"  in  view  of  the  results,  was  not  wholly 
insignificant. 

On  the  fourteenth  of  May,  an  interesting  lusus  naturae 
occurred  at  Stillwater.  On  the  prairies,  beyond  the  ele- 
vated bluffs  which  encircle  the  business  portion  of  the 
town,  there  is  a  lake  which  discharges  its  waters  through 
a  ravine,  and  supplies  McKusick's  Mill.  Owing  to  heavy 
rains  the  hills  became  saturated  with  water,  and  the 
lake  very  full.  Before  daylight  the  citizens  heard  the 
"  voice  of  many  waters,"  and  looking  out,  saw  rushing 
down  through  the  ravine,  trees,  gravel,  and  diluvium. 
Nothing  impeded  its  course,  and  as  it  issued  from  the 
ravine  it  spread  over  the  town  site,  covering  up  barns 
and  small  tenements,  and  continuing  to  the  lake  shore,  it 
materially  improved  the  landing,  by  a  deposit  of  many 
tons  of  earth.  One  of  the  editors  of  the  day,  alluding 
to  the  fact,  quaintly  remarked,  that  "  it  was  a  very 
extraordinary  movement  of  real  estate." 

During  the  summer,  Elijah  Terry,  a  young  man  who 
had   left   St.  Paul   the  previous  March,  and  gone  to 


574  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

Pembina,  to  act  as  teacher  to  the  mixed  bloods  in  that 
vicinity,  was  murdered  under  distressing  circumstances. 
With  a  bois  brule  he  had  started  to  the  woods  on  the 
morning  of  his  death,  to  hew  timber.  While  there  he 
was  fired  upon  by  a  small  party  of  Dahkotahs ;  a  ball 
broke  his  arm,  and  he  was  pierced  with  arrows.  His 
scalp  was  wrenched  from  his  head,  and  was  afterwards 
seen  among  Sissetoan  Dahkotahs,  near  Big  Stone  Lake. 

About  the  last  of  August,  the  pioneer  editor  of 
Minnesota,  James  M.  Goodhue,  died.  The  deceased 
was  born  in  Hebron,  N.  H.,  March  thirty-first,  1810. 
His  parents  possessed  the  strong  faith  and  stern  virtue 
of  the  Puritans,  and  felt  that  an  education  was  the 
greatest  treasure  they  could  give  their  children.  After 
passing  through  preparatory  studies,  he  entered  Amherst 
College,  w^here  he  listened  to  the  lectures  of  the  distin- 
guished geologist,  Hitchcock,  and  other  devout  men  of 
science.  In  the  year  1832,  he  received  a  diploma  from 
that  institution.  It  was  his  desire  to  have  attended  a 
meeting  of  his  surviving  classmates  in  the  halls  of  his 
"  Alma  Mater ;"  but  another  summons  came  to  take 
"  his  chamber  in  the  silent  halls  of  death." 

Having  studied  law,  he  entered  upon  the  practice  of 
the  profession.  He  became  an  editor  unexpectedly  to 
himself.  Having  been  invited  to  take  the  oversight  of 
a  press,  in  the  lead  region  of  Wisconsin,  during  the 
temporary  absence  of  its  conductor,  he  discovered  that 
he  increased  the  interest  of  the  readers  in  the  paper. 
From  that  time  he  began  to  pay  less  attention  to  the 
legal  profession,  and  was  soon  known  among  the  citizens 
of  the  mines  as  the  editor  of  the  Grant  County  Herald, 
published  at  Lancaster,  Wisconsin.  While  residing  at 
this  place,  he  became  interested  in  the  territory  "of 


SKETCH  OF  JAMES  M.  GOODHUE.  575 

skj-tintecl  waters"  (Minnesota).  With  the  independ- 
ence and  temerity  of  one  Benjamin  Frankhn,  he  left 
Lancaster  as  suddenly  as  the  ostensible  editor  of  the 
New  England  Courant  left  Boston,  and  he  arrived  at 
the  landing  of  what  is  now  the  capital  of  Minnesota, 
with  little  more  money  and  few  more  friends  than  the 
young  printer  who  landed  at  Market  street  wharf,  in 
the  capital  of  the  then  youthful  territory  of  Penn- 
sylvania. 

In  April,  1849,  he  found  St.  Paul  nothing  more  than 
a  frontier  Indian  trading  settlement,  known  by  the 
savages  as  the  place  where  they  could  obtain  Minne 
Wakan,  or  whiskey,  and  wholly  unknown  to  the  civil- 
ized world.  When  he  died,  with  the  sword  of  his  pen 
he  had  carved  a  name  and  reputation  for  St.  Paul,  and 
he  lived  long  enough  to  hear  men  think  aloud  and  say, 
that  the  day  was  coming  when  school-boys  would  learn 
from  their  geography  that  the  third  city  in  commercial 
importance,  on  the  banks  of  the  mighty  Mississippi,  was 
St.  Paul.  His  most  bitter  opponents  were  convinced, 
whatever  might  be  his  course  towards  them,  that  he 
loved  Minnesota  with  all  his  heart,  all  his  mind,  and 
all  his  might. 

When,  in  the  heat  of  partisan  warfare,  all  the  quali- 
ties of  his  mind  were  combined  to  defeat  certain  mea- 
sures, the  columns  of  his  paper  were  like  a  terrific  storm 
in  midsummer  amid  the  Alps.  One  sentence  would  be 
like  the  dazzling  arrowy  lightning,  peeling  in  a  moment 
the  mountain  oak,  and  riving  from  the  topmost  branch 
to  the  deepest  root ;  the  next  like  a  •  crash  of  awful 
thunder ;  and  the  next  like  the  stunning  roar  of  a  tor- 
rent of  many  waters. 

The  contrarieties  of  his  character  often  increased  his 


576 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


force.  Imagining  his  foes  to  be  Cossacks,  he  often  dashed 
among  them  with  all  the  recklessness  of  Murat.  The 
fantastic  magnificence  of  his  pen,  when  in  those  moods, 
was  as  appalling  in  its  temerity  as  the  white  ostrich 
feather  and  gUttering  gold  band  of  Napoleon's  famed 
marshal. 

His  prejudice  was  inveterate  against  sham  and  clap- 
trap. He  refused  to  publish  many  of  the  miserable 
advertisements  of  those  quacks,  who  seek  to  palm  off 
their  nostrums  upon  young  men,  diseased  through  their 
own  vices.  When  a  "  stroller"  for  a  living,  or  a  self- 
dubbed  professor,  came  to  town,  he  sported  with  him  as 
the  Philistines  with  blind  Samson.  By  sarcasm  and 
ridicule,  "  Jarley,  with  his  wax  works,"  was  made  to 
decamp.^ 


^  His  love  for  a  joke  frequently 
led  him  to  sacrifice  truth.  In  his 
paper  of  February  twentieth,  1850, 
with  all  gravity  he  has  a  paragraph, 
headed  Singular  Petrifaction,  and 
adds,  that  "at  the  mouth  of  Crow 
River  there  are  several  petrifactions 
in  the  shape  of  men  and  horses."  A 
man  in  St.  Louis  about  establishing 
a  museum,  saw  the  paragraph,  and 
wrote  a  letter  to  the  editor.  The 
letter  appeared  in  the  paper  of  May 
16th,  with  an  editorial,  entitled 
"  Stone  Cavalry  Wanted." 

"  We  have  received  the  following 
letter  from  a  gentleman  in  St. 
Louis.  In  answer  to  it,  we  can  only 
say,  that  it  is  generally  understood 
here  in  St.  Paul,  that  the  secre- 
tary of  the  territory  had  all  the 
petrifactions  in  question  (four  horses 
and  riders,  beside  a  few  fragments), 
raised  at  the  expense  of  the  trea- 


sury, and  put  in  a  small  new  stable, 
erected  for  the  purpose,  in  the  rear 
of  the  Central  House,  St.  Paul, 
at  an  expense  of  four  hundred  and 
thirty-one  dollars  to  the  government, 
which  has  been  duly  audited  and 
allowed  in  his  accounts.  Secretary 
C.  K.  Smith,  who  is  also  secretary 
of  the  Minnesota  Historical  Society, 
is  now  absent.  On  his  return,  a  few 
weeks  hence,  a  letter  addressed  to 
him  on  the  subject,  will  no  doubt  re- 
ceive prompt  attention.  Crow  Wing 
river  is  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
eight  miles  above  Saint  Paul.  To 
prompt  further  search  for  similar 
petrifactions  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Crow  Wing,  we  will  now  make  an 
offer  of  fifty  dollars  for  each  sound 
petrified  horse,  mare,  or  gelding,  the 
same  for  each  perfect  petrified  man 
or  woman,  and  half  that  price  for 
ponies    and   children,   delivered   in 


STORY  OF  THE  PETRIFIED  HORSES. 


577 


When  untrammelled  by  self-interest  or  party  ties,  his 
sentiments  proved  that  he  was  a  man  that  was  often 
read}'  to  exclaim  : — 

"  Video  meliora  proboque  ; 
Deteriora  sequor." 

At  the  November  Term  of  the  United  States  District 
Court,  for  Ramsey  county,  a  Dahkotah,  named  Yu-ha- 


boxes  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  ready 
to  be  shipped  down  to  St.  Anthony, 
on  the  steamboat  Governor  Ramsej^, 
in  good  condition. 

"  St.  Louis,  April  27, 1850. 

"Sir: — You -will,  I  hope,  excuse  the 
liberty  I  take  of  addressing  this  let- 
ter to  3"ou,  being  an  entire  stranger 
to  you.  My  object  in  writing  it  is  to 
inquire  of  you  some  particulars  with 
respect  to  a  notice  I  observed  in  the 
St.  Louis  Union  of  the  twentj'-ninth 
inst.,  copied  from  your  paper,  of  a 
number  of  petrifactions,  in  the  shape 
of  men  and  horses,  which  are  said 
to  be  at  the  bottom  of  Crow  river, 
near  its  mouth.  If  not  too  much 
trouble,  will  you  be  good  enough  to 
let  me  know,  at  your  earliest  con- 
venience, more  about  the  matter, 
and  if  there  is  any  possibility  of 
getting  at  them  ? 

"I  am  about  establishing  a  museum 
in  this  city,  and  am  desirous  of  col- 
lecting all  the  natural  curiosities  I 
can  get  for  the  same.  If  there  are 
any  specimens  of  fossils,  minerals, 
or  in  fact  anything  in  the  way  of 
curiosities  in  your  neighbourhood, 
that  could  be  sent  to  this  city,  I 
would  pay  liberally  for  them. 
37 


"Trusting  that  I   may,   at  some 
future  time,  have  it  in  my  power  tc 
reciprocate  the  favour, 
I  remain,  dear  sir. 
Yours  most  respectfully." 

The  Philadelphia  North  Ameri- 
can, receiving  the  hoax,  writes: — 

"  The  Croio  River  Petrifactions. — 
The  petrified  men  and  horses,  re- 
cently discovered  at  the  bottom  of 
Crow  river,  Minnesota,  near  its 
mouth,  have  been  housed  in  a  build- 
ing near  St.  Paul,  erected  for  the 
purpose,  and  are  under  the  care  of 
the  territorial  officers.  There  are 
four  horses  with  their  riders." 

Goodhue,  feeling  that  he  had  car- 
ried his  joke  far  enough,  publishes 
the  above  paragraph  in  his  paper  of 
June  twentieth,  and  adds  : — 

"Yes ;  but  as  oats  in  St.  Paul  are 
scarce  at  one  dollar  per  bushel,  the 
secretary  enlisted  them  in  the  new 
company  of  dragoons,  and  they  were 
shipped  down  on  the  Dr.  Franklin, 
No.  2,  last  week,  under  command  of 
Captain  Garland,  U.  S.  A.,  to  hunt 
the  Sacs  and  Foxes  out  of  Iowa." 

And  thus  ended  the  Ilorso  Marine 
Story. 


578  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

zee,  Avas  tried  for  the  murder  of  a  German  woman.  AVitli 
others  she  was  traveling  ahove  Shokpay,  when  a  party 
of  Indians,  of  which  the  prisoner  was  one,  met  them ; 
and,  gathering  about  the  wagon,  were  much  excited. 
The  prisoner  punched  the  woman  first  Avith  his  gun, 
and,  being  threatened  by  one  of  the  party,  loaded 
and  fired,  kiUing  the  w^oman  and  wounding  one  of  the 
men. 

On  the  day  of  his  trial  he  was  escorted  from  Fort 
Snelling  by  a  company  of  mounted  dragoons  in  full 
dress.  It  was  an  impressive  scene  to  witness  the  poor 
Indian  half  hid  in  his  blanket,  in  a  buggy  with  the 
civil  officer,  surrounded  with  all  the  pomp  and  circum- 
stance of  war.  The  jury  found  him  guilty.  On  being 
asked  if  he  had  anything  to  say  w^hy  sentence  of  death 
should  not  be  passed,  he  replied,  through  the  interpreter, 
that  the  band  to  which  he  belonged  Avould  remit  their 
annuities  if  he  could  be  released.  To  this  Judge  Hay- 
ner  replied,  that  he  had  no  authority  to  release  him ; 
and,  ordering  him  to  rise,  after  some  appropriate  and 
impressive  remarks,  he  pronounced  the  only  sentence 
of  death  ever  pronounced  by  a  judicial  officer  in  Min- 
nesota. The  prisoner  trembled  while  the  judge  spoke, 
and  was  a  piteous  spectacle.  By  the  statute  of  Min- 
nesota, one  convicted  of  murder  cannot  be  executed 
until  twelve  months  have  elapsed,  and  he  w\as  confined 
until  the  governor  of  the  territory  should  by  warrant 
order  his  execution. 

Judge  Hayner,  having  been  appointed  chief  justice  in 
the  place  of  Fuller,  whose  nomination  was  not  confirmed 
by  the  United  States  Senate,  on  an  appeal  of  Alexis 
Cloutier,  who  had  been  fined  twenty-five  dollars  for  vio- 


JUDGE  liAYNER'S  DECISION  ON  LIQUOR  LAW.  579 

lating  the  liquor  law,  decided  that  the  legislative  power 
was  vested  by  the  organic  act,  in  the  Governor  and 
Legislative  Assemblj'  alone,  and  that  they  had  no 
power  to  delegate  their  authority  to  the  people ;  that 
the  act  in  question  was  an  attempt  at  such  transfer  of 
power,  and  was  consequently  null  and  void. 


580  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


CHAPTER   XXVI. 

The  fourth  Legislative  Assembly  convened  on  the 
fifth  of  January,  1853,  in  the  two  story  brick  edifice  at 
the  corner  of  Third  and  Minnesota  streets.  The  Council 
chose  Martin  McLeod  as  presiding  officer,  and  the  House 
Dr.  David  Day,  Speaker.  Governor  Ramsey's  message 
was  an  interesting  document,  and  thus  eloquently  con- 
cluded : — 

"  In  concluding  this  my  last  annual  message,  per- 
mit me  to  observe  that  it  is  now  a  little  over  three  years 
and  six  months  since  it  was  my  happiness  to  first  land 
upon  the  soil  of  Minnesota.  Not,  far  from  where  we 
now  are  a  dozen  framed  houses,  not  all  com^^leted,  and 
some  eight  or  ten  small  log  buildings,  with  bark  roofs, 
constituted  the  capital  of  the  new  territory,  over  whose 
destiny  I  had  been  commissioned  to  preside.  One 
county,  a  remnant  from  Wisconsin  territorial  organiza- 
tion, alone  afforded  the  ordinary  facilities  for  the  execu- 
tion of  the  laws ;  and  in  and  around  its  seat  of  justice 
resided  the  bulk  of  our  scattered  population.  Within 
this  single  county  were  embraced  all  the  lands  white 
men  were  privileged  to  till ;  while  between  them  and 
the  broad  rich  hunting  grounds  of  untutored  savages, 
rolled  the  River  of  Rivers,  here  as  majestic  in  its  north- 


GOVERNOR  RAMSEY'S  LAST  MESSAGE.  581 

ern  youth,  as  in  its  more  southern  maturity.  Empha- 
tically new  and  wild  appeared  everything  to  the  in- 
comers from  older  communities ;  and  a  not  least  novel 
feature  of  the  scene  was  the  motley  humanity  partiallj- 
filling  these  streets — the  blankets  and  painted  faces  of 
Indians,  and  the  red  sashes  and  moccasins  of  French 
voyageurs  and  half-breeds,  greatly  predominating  over 
the  less  picturesque  costume  of  the  Anglo-American 
race.  But  even  while  strangers  yet  looked,  the  elements 
of  a  mighty  change  were  working,  and  civilization  with 
its  hundred  arms  was  commencing  its  resistless  and 
beneficent  empire.  To  my  lot  fell  the  honourable  dutj* 
of  taking  the  initial  step  in  this  work  by  proclaiming, 
on  the  first  of  June,  1849,  the  organization  of  the  terri- 
torial government  and  consequent  extension  of  the  pro- 
tecting arm  of  law  over  these  distant  regions.  Since 
that  day,  how  impetuously  have  events  crowded  time ! 
The  fabled  magic  of  the  eastern  tale  that  renewed  o 
palace  in  a  single  night,  only  can  parallel  the  reality 
of  growth  and  progress. 

"  In  forty-one  months  the  few  bark-roofed  huts  have 
been  transformed  into  a  city  of  thousands,  in  which  com- 
merce rears  its  spacious  warehouses,  religion  its  spired 
temples,  a  broad  capitol  its  swelling  dome,  and  luxurj- 
and  comfort,  numerous  ornamented  and  substantial 
abodes :  and  where  nearly  every  avocation  of  life  pre- 
sents its  appropriate  follower  and  representative.  In 
forty-one  months  have  condensed  a  whole  century  of 
achievements,  calculated  by  the  old  world's  calendar  of 
progress — a  government  proclaimed  in  the  wilderness,  a 
judiciary  organized,  a  legislature  constituted,  a  compre- 
hensive code  of  laws  digested  and  adopted,  our  popula- 
tion quintupled,  cities  and  towns  springing  up  on  every 


582  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

Jiand,  and  steam  with  its  revolving  wings,  in  its  season, 
daily  fretting  the  bosom  of  the  Mississippi,  in  bearing 
fresh  crowds  of  men  and  merchandise  within  our  borders. 

"  Nor  is  that  the  least  among  the  important  achieve- 
ments of  this  brief  period,  which  has  enabled  us,  by 
extinguishing  the  Indian  title  to  forty  million  acres  of 
land,  to  overleap  the  Father  of  Waters,  and  j^lant  civi- 
lization on  his  western  shore.  Broad  and  beautiful,  by 
universal  concession,  are  these  newly  acquired  lands — 
the  very  garden  spot  of  the  north-west,  as  explorers 
have  pronounced  them — and  it  is  scarcely  surprising, 
though  less  than  six  months  have  elapsed  since  the  rati- 
fication of  the  treaties  by  the  Senate,  that  the  keen-eyed 
enterprise  of  our  race  has  within  them  already  planned 
towns,  built  mills,  opened  roads,  commenced  farms,  the 
nucleus  of  many  a  happy  home. 

"  But  it  is,  however,  in  their  initiatory  stages  only, 
we  can  consider  the  present  growth  and  advancement 
of  our  territory  in  all  the  constituents  of  national  and 
individual  prosperity.  Our  brief,  though  energetic  past, 
foreshadows  but  faintly  the  more  glorious  and  brilliant 
destiny  in  store  for  us  in  the  future ;  nor  is  prophetic 
inspiration  necessary  to  foretell  it.  It  is  written  so 
plainly  that  he  who  runs  may  read  it.  It  is  written  in 
the  advantages  nature  has  so  liberally  bestowed  upon 
us ;  by  a  beautiful  country,  unqualified  by  the  drawback 
of  much  waste  land,  with  an  universally  fertile  soil, 
where  prairies,  '  that  blossom  as  the  rose,'  with  groves 
and  woods  are  proportionately  intermingled ;  while  dot- 
ting it  over,  in  refreshing  profusion,  are  gem-like  lakes, 
and  intersecting  its  map,  at  convenient  distances,  are 
crystal  streams  whose  precipitous  waters  afibrd  elements 
out  of  which  to  create  future  Lowells  and  Manchesters. 


FUTURE  GREATNESS  OF  MINNESOTA.  5S3 

'•  It  is  written  in  our  geographical  position,  in  the 
centre  of  our  continent,  at  the  head  of  the  Mississippi 
valley,  and  enfolding  either  bank  of  the  great  river 
with  its  very  head  springs,  even  as  its  delta  is  embraced 
on  both  sides  by  our  sister  Louisiana.  It  is  written  in 
our  proximity  to  Superior's  inland  sea,  and  tl^  abund- 
ant mines  of  rich  ores  possessed  alike  by  its  northern, 
as  by  its  southern  shores — mines,  whose  workmen  it 
will  be  our  inevitable  lot  to  feed  and  clothe. 

"And  it  is  written  likewise,  on  a  thousand  features 
of  interest  and  advantage  incident  to  our  territory ;  in 
our  extensive  pineries,  the  livelihood  of  hardy  lumber- 
men, and  a  future  chief  resource  for  building  purposes 
of  the  people  of  the  great  valley  below  us ;  in  the  many 
opportunities  for  manufacturing  establishments  offered 
by  our  magnificent  water  powers,  and  the  ease  with 
which  the  Mississippi  enables  us  to  procure  the  material, 
and  export  the  products  of  factory  labour ;  in  our  salu- 
brious climate,  insuring  a  healthy,  hardy,  and  numer- 
ous population,  and  in  the  immediate  advantage  to  our 
early  growth  and  prosperity,  which  follows  the  expendi- 
ture of  a  quarter  of  a  million  of  dollars  annually  by 
the  national  government,  for  the  benefit  of  the  Indian 
tribes  in  our  midst. 

"■  That  which  is  written  is  written — the  life  of  a  short 
generation  will  realize  it.  In  ten  years  a  state — in  ten 
years  more  half  a  million  of  people,  are  not  extravagant 
predictions.  In  our  visions  of  that  coming  time,  rise  up 
in  magnificent  proportions,  one  or  more  capitals  of  the 
North,  Stockholms,  and  St.  Petersburgs,  with  many  a 
town  besides,  only  secondary  to  these  in  their  trade, 
wealth,  and  enterprise.     Steam  on  the  water  and  steam 


584  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

on  the  land,  ever^"\vhere,  fills  the  ear  and  the  sight. 
Steamboats  crowd  our  waters,  and  railroads  intersecting 
in  every  direction,  interlink  remotest  points  within  and 
without  our  territory.  The  blue  waters  of  Lake  Supe- 
rior and  the  red-tinged  floods  of  the  Mississippi  are 
united  l3p  iron  bands,  and  a  south-eastern  line  connects 
St.  Paul  direct  with  Lake  Michigan. 

"The  great  New  Orleans  and  Minnesota  Railroad 
pours  into  its  depot,  somewhere  on  the  Upper  Minnesota 
river,  passengers  and  products  from  the  far  sunny  South, 
to  receive  in  return,  for  ultimate  ocean  transit  perhaps, 
furs  and  merchandise  from  the  polar  circle,  which  steam- 
boats on  the  Red  River  of  the  North,  or  a  railroad  on 
its  banks,  have  just  brought  from  Selkirk,  or  the  plains 
of  distant  Athabasca.  Let  none  deem  these  visions 
improbable,  or  their  foreshadowing  impracticable.  Man, 
in  the  present  age,  disdains  the  ancient  limits  to  his 
career;  and  in  this  country,  especially,  all  precedents 
of  human  progress,  growth  of  states,  and  march  of 
empires,  are  set  aside  by  an  impetuous  originality  of 
action,  which  is  at  once  both  fact  and  precedent.  Doubt- 
less an  overruling  Providence,  for  inscrutable  purposes, 
has  decreed  to  the  American  nation  this  quicker  transi- 
tion from  the  Avilderness  of  nature  to  the  maturity  of 
social  enjoyments — this  shorter  probation  between  the 
bud  and  green  tree  of  empire ;  and  it  well  becomes  us 
therefore,  in  our  gratulations  upon  present  prosj)eritj', 
and  in  our  speculations  uj)on  greater  power  and  hajopi- 
ness  in  the  early  future,  to  render  humble,  yet  fervent 
thanks  *  unto  Him  who  holdeth  nations  in  the  hollow 
of  his  hand,'  and  shapes  out  the  destinies  of  every 
people." 

Two   subjects  came  before  the   legislature  affecting 


PROPOSED  ALTERATION  OF  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  SYSTEM.      585 

domestic  happiness.  The  Large  majority  of  citizens  peti- 
tion that  a  hquor  law  might  be  enacted  that  would  be 
free  from  the  objections  existing  against  the  law  of  the 
previous  session.  A  bill  was  proj)Osed  by  the  friends 
of  temperance,  but  it  failed  to  pass. 

During  this  session,  an  estimable  citizen,  the  late 
Bishop  Cretin,  in  accordance  with  an  understanding 
with  tlie  other  bishops  of  the  Koman  Catholic  branch 
of  the  Church  in  this  country,  caused  petitions  to  be 
presented,  asking  a  division  of  the  common  school  fund. 

Mr.  Murray,  from  the  select  committee  to  which  was 
referred  sundry  petitions  for  a  change  in  the  school  law, 
made  the  following  report: — 

"A  majoritj^  of  the  committee  to  whom  was  referred 
sundry  petitions  from  the  citizens  of  St.  Anthony,  St. 
Paul,  and  Little  Canada,  praying  a  modification  of  the 
present  school  law,  beg  leave  to  report : 

"  That  while  they  have  been  unable  to  give  the  mat- 
ters set  forth  in  the  petitions,  that  attention  and  investi- 
gation which  their  importance  as  affecting  the  rights 
and  interests  of  so  large  and  respectable  a  number  of 
the  citizens  of  this  territory,  would  demand,  it  is  evi- 
dent to  them  that  the  petitioners  have  just  grounds  of 
complaint,  and  that  the  present  school  law  is  defective 
in  this :  that  while  a  revenue  is  derived  from  every  tax- 
payer of  this  territory,  to  support  and  maintain  common 
schools,  more  than  one-third  of  the  entire  population 
of  this  territory  have  never  derived  any  benefit  from 
the  large  amounts  paid  for  that  purpose. 

"  Your  committee  believing  that  duty  demands  a  con- 
ciliation of  law  with  individual  liberty  and  freedom  of 
conscience ;  and  where  any  law  does  not,  by  reason  of 
its  imperfections,  meet  the  wants  and  situation,  and  the 


586 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


tlioiisancl  circumstances  which  diversify  human  cha- 
racter and  pursuits,  or  where  it  fails  to  benefit  commu- 
nities or  denominations,  by  reason  of  a  conscientious 
beUef  in  opposition  thereto,  in  common  with  their  fellow- 
citizens,  their  case,  of  right,  ought  to  be  provided  for 
by  such  legislation  as  is  consistent  with  the  Avelfare  of 
every  other  citizen,  and  of  the  whole. 

"Your  committee,  therefore,  ask  leave  to  introduce 
the  accompanying  bill,  and  reconnnend  its  passage."^ 

The  moderate  of  all  denominations,  and  the  friends 
of  the  American  system  of  public  instruction,  were  sur- 
prised at  the  introduction  of  a  bill  with  such  features  as 


^  The  following  is  the  bill  as 
originally  introduced  by  the  Com- 
mittee : — 

"  No.  18,  [H.  of  E.)— Introduced 
by  Mr.  Murray,  from  Select  Com- 
mittee to  which  was  referred  sundry 
petitions  on  the  subject,  February 
sixteenth,  1853.  Read  first  and 
second  times,  and  laid  on  the  table  to 
be  printed,  February  sixteenth,  1853  : 
— A  Bill  Amendatory  of  the 
School  Law  : 

"Be  it  enacted  by  the  Legislative 
Assembly  of  the  Territory  of  Minne- 
sota : — Sec.  1.  That  all  communities 
of  any  denomination,  willing  to 
have  a  school  of  their  own,  in  which 
religious  instruction  will  be  taught 
as  well  as  other  branches  of  educa- 
tion, be  authorized  to  do  so,  and  their 
schools  shall  be  entitled  to  all  the 
benefits  accruing  to  district  schools, 

"Sec.  2.  All  schools  well  organ- 
ized, and  composed  of  at  least  twenty- 
five  children,  shall  receive  a  part  of 
the  school  money,  according  to  the 


number  of  children  regularly  at- 
tending the  said  school. 

"  Sec.  3.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
trustees  of  any  school  district  to 
issue  warrants  upon  the  treasurer 
for  the  proportionate  share  of  money 
coming  to  any  school  as  aforesaid, 
on  application  of  the  teacher  or 
trustees  of  said  school.  Provided, 
that  said  teacher  or  trustees  shall 
prove  by  the  affidavit  of  at  least  one 
person,  the  number  of  scholars  in 
regular  attendance,  which  number 
shall  be  at  least  twenty-five. 

"Sec.  4.  Such  schools  as  only  are 
composed  of  at  least  twenty-five  child" 
ren,  and  are  kept  in  operation  at  least 
four  hours  every  day,  during  five 
days  of  every  week,  shall  be  con- 
sidered well  organized  schools,  and 
entitled  to  a  share  of  the  school  fund. 

"  Sec.  5.  All  acts  and  parts  of  acts, 
contravening  the  provisions  of  this 
act,  are  hereby  repealed. 

"  Sec.  6.  This  act  to  be  in  force 
from  and  after  its  passage." 


BALDWIN  SCHOOL.— COLLEGE  OF  ST.  PAUL.       587 

that  introduced  by  Mr.  Murray,  and  it  led  to  consider- 
able discussion.' 

The  region  west  of  the  Mississippi  was  divided,  by 
the  legislature,  into  the  following  counties :  Dahkotah, 
Goodhue,  Waupashaw,  Fillmore,  Scott,  Le  Sueur,  Rice, 
Blue  Earth,  Sibley,  Nicollet,  and  Pierce. 

The  Baldmn  School,  the  male  department  of  which 
is  now  under  a  separate  charter,  and  known  as  "  The 
College  of  St.  Paul,"  was  also  incorporated  at  this  ses- 
sion of  the  legislature,  and  was  opened  the  following 
June. 

On  the  ninth  of  April,  a  party  of  Ojibways  killed  a 
Dahkotah,  at  the  village  of  Shokpay.  A  war  party, 
from  Kaposia,  then  proceeded  up  the  vallej^  of  the  St. 
Croix,  and  killed  an  Ojibway.  On  the  morning  of  the 
twenty-seventh,  a  band  of  Ojibway  warriors,  naked, 
decked,  and  fiercely  gesticulating,  might  have  been 
seen  in  the  busiest  street  of  the  capital,  in  search  of 
theu'  enemies.  Just  at  that  time  a  small  party  of 
women,  and  one  man,  who  had  lost  a  leg  in  the 
battle  of  Stillwater,  arrived  in  a  canoe  from  Kaposia, 
at  the  Jackson  street  landing.  Perceiving  the  Ojib- 
ways, they  retreated  to  the  building  now  known  as  the 
"  Pioneer"  office,  and  the  Ojibways  discharging  a  volley 

'  "No.  18,    (II.   of  R.)    'A   bill  "Messrs.    Lett,     Murray,    Noot, 

amendatory  of  the  School  Law,'  Oliver,  and  Rolette — 5. 

"Was  taken  up.  "Those  -who  voted  in  the  negative 

"  The  question  then  recurring  on  were, 

ordering  the  bill  to  a  third  reading,  "Messrs.  Ames,  Dutton,  Liiddcn, 

"  And   the   ayes   and   noes  being  MeKee,  Randall,  Russell,  Ramsey, 

called  for  and  ordered,  there  were  Stimson,  Truax,  Wells,  Wilcox  and 

ayes  5,  noes  12.  I-peaker — 12. 

"  Those  who  voted  in  the  affirm-  "  So  the  House  refused  to  order 

ativc  were,  the  bill  to  be  read  a  third  time." 


588  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

throu"h  the  windows,  wounded  a  Dahkotali  woman  who 
soon  died.  For  a  short  time,  the  infant  capital  pre- 
sented a  sight  simiLar  to  that  witnessed  in  ancient  days 
in  Hadley  and  Deerfield,  the  then  frontier  towns  of  Mas- 
sachusetts. Messengers  were  despatched  to  Fort  Snel- 
ling  for  the  dragoons,  and  a  party  of  citizens  mounted 
on  horseback,  were  quickly  in  pursuit  of  those  who  with 
so  much  boldness  had  sought  the  streets  of  St.  Paul,  as 
a  place  to  avenge  their  wrongs.  The  dragoons  soon 
followed,  with  Indian  guides  scenting  the  track  of  the 
Ojibways,  like  bloodhounds.  The  next  day  they  disco- 
vered the  transgressors,  near  the  Falls  of  St.  Croix. 
The  Ojibways  manifesting  what  was  supposed  to  be  an 
insolent  spirit,  the  order  w^as  given  by  the  lieutenant  in 
command,  to  fire,  and  he  whose  scalp  w^as  afterwards 
daguerreotyped,  and  appeared  in  Graham's  Magazme, 
wallowed  in  gore. 

During  the  summer  the  passenger,  as  he  stood  on  the 
hurricane  deck  of  any  of  the  steamboats,  might  have 
seen,  on  a  scaffold  on  the  bluffs,  in  the  rear  of  Kaposia, 
a  square  box  covered  with  a  coarsely  fringed  red  cloth. 
Above  it  w^as  suspended  a  piece  of  the  Ojib way's  scalp, 
Avliose  death  had  caused  the  affray  in  the  streets  of  St. 
Paul.  Within  was  the  body  of  the  woman  who  had 
been  shot  in  the  "  Pioneer"  building  w^hile  seeking 
refuge.  A  scalp  suspended  over  the  corpse  is  supposed 
to  be  a  consolation  to  the  soul,  and  a  great  protection  in 
the  journey  to  the  spirit  land. 

On  the  accession  of  Pierce  to  the  Presidency  of  the 
United  States,  the  officers  appointed  under  the  Taylor 
and  Fillmore  administrations  were  removed,  and  the 
following   gentlemen    substituted:    Governor,    W.    A. 


NEW  TERRITORIAL  OFFICERS.  589 

Gorman,  of  Indiana;^  Secretary,  J.  T.  Rosser,  of  Virginia; 
Chief  Justice,  W.  H.  Welch,  of  Minnesota ;  Associates, 
Moses  Sherburne,  of  Maine,  and  A.  G.  Chatfield,  of  Wis- 
consin. One  of  the  first  official  acts  of  the  second 
governor,  was  the  making  of  a  treaty  with  the  Winne- 
bago Indians  at  Watab,  Benton  county,  for  an  exchange 
of  country. 

At  the  close  of  the  summer  the  Dahkotahs  began  to 
leave  their  ancient  villages,  and  move  to  the  reserve  on 
the  Upper  Minnesota.  Their  locations  on  the  Missis- 
sippi and  Minnesota,  previous  to  this  period,  was  as 
follows : — 

The  Kiyuksah  band,  called  by  that  name,  signifying 
"  relationship  overlooked,"  because  they  disregard  the 
Dahkotah  custom,  and  marry  their  relatives,  lived  below 
Lake  Pepin.  Their  chief  Wapashaw  lived  in  the  vici- 
nity of  Winona,  and  they  hunted  on  the  Chippeway 
river  and  branches. 

At  the  head  of  Lake  Pepin,  where  the  town  of  Eed 
Wing  now  stands,  was  the  Raymneecha  band.  They 
were  so  designated  because  their  village  was  near  a  hill 
(Ha),  water  (min),  and  wood  (chan).  The  chief  was 
Wah-koo-tay,  the  uncle  of  the  celebrated  half-breed 
Jack  Frazer. 

Four  miles  below  St.  Paul  dwelt  the  Kaposia  band. 
The  signification  of  Kaposia  is  "light,"  and  applied  be- 
cause of  the  agility  with  which  they  travelled.  Their 
chief  was  called  by  the  whites  Little  Crow,  after  his  an- 
cestor.    His  real   name   is  Tahohyahtaydootah,  "  His 

*  Governor   Gorman  was  born  in  Biicna  Yista,    he    commanded    the 

Fleming  Co.,  Ky.,  but  for  many  years  Rifle  Battalion,  and  in  1849  he  was 

-was  a  resident  of  Indiana.     During  elected   as   a  member  of  Congress 

the  Mexican  war,  at  the  battle  of  from  the  sixth  Indiana  district. 


590  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

Scarlet  People."  The  first  village  on  the  Minnesota  was 
on  the  south  side,  and  known  as  Black  Dog's,  about  four 
miles  above  Mendota. 

At  Oak  Grove  and  vicinity  lived  Good  Road's  band, 
and  the  1jand  driven  by  the  Ojibways  from  Lake  Calhoun. 

The  Tintatonwan  band  occupied  the  site  of  Shokpay, 
and  their  principal  chief  was  Shokpaj^dan,  or  Little 
Six.^ 

During  the  year  1853  an  exciting  topic  of  conversa- 
tion was  an  alleged  fraud,  said  to  have  been  perpetrated 
by  Governor  Ramsey,  H.  H.  Sibley,  H.  L.  Dousman, 
Franklin  Steele,  and  others,  in  the  payment  of  the  Dah- 
kotahs  at  Traverse  des  Sioux,  in  the  autumn  of  1852. 
Charges  were  made  against  Governor  Ramsey  by  an 
Lidian  trader  named  Madison  Sweetser,  who  had  come 
into  the  country  after  the  treaty,  and  was  not  satisfied 
with  the  mode  of  payment.  At  the  request  of  Mr. 
Sibley,  then  a  delegate  to  Congress,  Senator  Gwin 
moved  that  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  investigate 
the  alleged  fraud.  Commissioners  were  appointed  to 
proceed  to  Minnesota,  and  examine  all  the  facts  in  the 
case.  A  large  number  of  witnesses  testified,  and  on  the 
twenty-fourth  of  February,  1854,  the    Committee  of 

^  Presbyterian    missionaries    and  Shokpay. — Samuel  Yv'.  Pond,  Mis- 

assistants  among  the  Dahkotahs,  in  sionary;  3Irs.  Cordelia  F.  Pond. 

1850-53  : —  Oak    Grove. — Gideon    H.   Pond, 

Lacqui  Parle. — Stephen  R. Puggs,  Missionary;  Mrs.  Sarah  P.  Pond. 

Moses     N.    Adams,     Missionaries;  Kaposia. — Thomas  S.Williamson, 

Jonas    Pettijohn,    Assistant;    Mrs.  M.  D.,  Missionary  and  Physician; 

Mary  Ann  C.  Riggs,  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Mrs.  Margaret  P.  Williamson,  Miss 

M.  Adams,  Mrs.  Fanny  H.  Pettijohn,  Jane  S.  Williamson. 

Miss  Sarah  Rankin.  Red  Wixg. — John  F.  Alton,  Mis- 

Traverse  DES  Sioux. — Rev.  Robert  sionary ;  Joseph  W.  Hancock,  Licen- 

Hopkins  and  Mrs.  Agnes  Hopkins,  tiate ;  Mrs.  Nancy  H.  Alton,  Mrs 

Alexander  G.  Huggins,  Assistant;  Hancock. 
Mrs.  Lydia  P.  Huggins. 


ELECTION  FOR  DELEGATE  TO  CONGRESS. 


5'Jl 


Indian  Affiiirs  of  the  Senate,  to  whom  the  testimony 
taken  by  the  commissioners  appointed  by  the  President 
of  the  United  States  was  referred,  reported  "  that  they 
have  carefully  examined  all  the  testimony  taken  by  the 
commissioners  during  nearly  three  months  in  session  at 
St.  Paul,  and  have  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  the 
conduct  of  Governor  Ramsey  was  not  only  free  from 
blame  but  highly  commendable  and  meritorious.  Not 
one  of  the  charges  preferred  against  him  has  been  sus- 
tained by  the  testimony.  On  the  contrary,  the  wit- 
nesses of  the  complainants  themselves,  in  almost  every 
instance,  have  negatived  them,  proving  conclusively  that 
he  neither  violated  the  stipulations  of  the  treaties  as 
understood  by  the  parties  to  them,  nor  was  governed  in 
his  conduct  by  motives  other  than  such  as  entitle  him 
to  commendation,  both  as  a  man  and  an  officer." 

On  the  twenty-nmth  of  June,  D.  A.  Robertson,  who 
by  his  enthusiasm  and  earnest  advocacy  of  its  princi- 
ples had  done  much  to  organize  the  Democratic  party 
of  Minnesota,  retired  from  the  editorial  chair  and  was 
succeeded  by  David  Olmsted. 

At  the  election  held  in  October,  Henry  M,  Rice  and 
Alexander  Wilkin  were  candidates  for  delegate  to  Con- 
The  former  was  elected  by  a  decisive  majority.' 


sress. 


^  The  official  vote  was : — 


Rice. 

Wilkin. 

Eice. 

■\Tilkin 

Tlamsey,      .     . 

.    880 

292 

Fillmore,     .     . 

.      IGl 

12 

Benton  and  Cass,      233 

38 

Nicollet,      .     . 

.         81 

00 

Hennepin,  .     . 

.     ICO 

30 

Chisago,      .     . 

.      41 

H 

Sibley,    .     .     . 

.      13 

2 

Washington,    . 

.     288 

147 

Wabasha,    .     . 

.      10 

24 

Itasca,    .     .     . 

.       18 

00 

Dahkotah,  .     . 

.     114 

40 

Pembina,    .     . 

.      GO 

68 

Scott,      .     .     . 

.      51 

9 

Blue  Earth,     . 

.       10 

12 

Total, 

2149 

096 

Le  Sueur,    .     . 

.      23 

8 

;j92  history  of  MINNESOTA. 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 

With  the  advent  of  a  new  governor,  a  different 
arrangement  of  parties  in  a  territory  naturally  fol- 
lows. 

During  the  early  periods  of  a  territorial  government, 
citizens  are  so  much  occupied  with  local  and  personal 
interest,  as  not  to  feel  the  interest  in  national  politics 
which  is  witnessed  in  the  Atlantic  States. 

From  the  previous  chapters  it  appears  that  the  excit- 
ing question  of  the  year  1851  was  the  apportionment 
bill  of  the  legislature  of  that  year,  allowing  citizens  on 
the  unceded  lands  a  representation. 

The  year  1852  was  characterized  by  the  discussion 
on  the  liquor  question,  and  the  passage  of  a  law  prohi- 
biting the  sale  of  intoxicating  beverages,  except  for 
medicinal,  mechanical,  and  sacramental  purposes.  The 
year  1853  was  one  of  bitter  personal  controversy,  and 
parties  were  known  as  Fur  Company  and  Anti-Fur  Com- 
pany. 

The  year  1854  witnessed  entirely  new  coalitions. 
Those  who  had  previously  stood  shoulder  to  shoulder 
were  found  withstanding  each  other  to  the  face.  On 
the  one  side  are  ranged  Ramsey,  Rice,  and  Robertson ; 
on  the  other  side,  Sibley  and  Gorman. 

The  fifth  session  of  the  legislature  was  commenced  in 


LEGISLATIVE  ASSEMBLY,  1854. 


59^ 


the  building  just  completed  as  the  Capitol,  on  January 
fourth,  1854.  The  President  of  the  Council  was  S.  B. 
Olmstead.^ 

Governor  Gorman  delivered  his  first  annual  message  on 
the  tenth,  and  with  his  predecessor  urged  the  importance 
of  railway  communications,  and  dwelt  upon  the  neces- 
sity of  fostering  the  interests  of  education,  and  of  the 
lumbermen. 

The  exciting  bill  of  the  session  was  the  act  incorpo- 


^  Council. 

Age. 

S.  B.  Olmstead, 41 

J.  R.  Brown, 48 

I.  Van  Etten 27 

N.  W.  Kittson, 40 

A.  Stimson, 37 

W.  P.  Murray, 28 

W.  Freeborn, 37 

J.  E.  Mower, 36 

House. 

R.Watson, 28 

Cephas  Gardner,      ....  53 

W.  A.  Davis, 31 

Levi  Sloan, 31 

W.  11.  Nobles, 36 

Wm.  McKusick,       ....  28 

D.  G.  Morrison, 27 

C.  P.  Stearnes, 46 

N.  C.  D.  Taylor 42 

Peter  Roy 26 

John  Fisher, 29 

H.  Fletcher 35 

R.  M.  Richardson,   ....  36 

J.  II.  Day, 33 

0.  M.  Lord 27 

Louis  Bartlette, 33 

H.  S.  Plumer 25 

Wm.  Noot, 43 

Joseph  Rolette, 32 

88 


Birth-place. 

Otsego  Co.,  N.  Y. 
York  Co.,  Penn. 
Orange  Co.,  N.  Y. 
Sorel,  Canada. 
York  Co.,  Me. 
Butler  Co.,  Ohio. 
Richland  Co.,  Ohio. 
Somerset  Co.,  Me. 


Scotland. 

N.  H. 

St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Schoharie  Co.,  N.  Y. 

Genesee  Co.,  N.  Y. 

Maine. 

Fond  du  Lac,  M.  T. 

Berkshire  Co.,  Mass. 

Belknap  Co.,  N.  II. 

Rainy  Lake,  M.  T. 

Canada  West. 

Maine. 

Pickaway  Co.,  Ohio. 

Virginia. 

Wyoming  Co.,  N.  Y. 

Montreal,  C.  E. 

Sheffield  Co.,  N.  H. 

Prussia. 

Prairie  du  Chien. 


59-4  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

rating  the  Minnesota  and  North-western  Raih'oad  Com- 
pany, introduced  by  Joseph  R.  Brown.  It  was  passed 
after  the  hour  of  midnight  on  the  last  day  of  the  ses- 
sion. Contrary  to  the  expectation  of  his  friends,  the 
governor  signed  the  bill. 

On  Friday,  the  third  of  March,  the  Presbyterian  mis- 
sion-house at  Lac  qui  Parle  was  burned.  Two  of  the 
children  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Riggs  went  into  the  cellar  to 
procure  some  vegetables  for  their  mother;  bearing  a 
lighted  candle,  they  unintentionally  communicated  fire 
to  the  hay,  and  soon  the  house  was  in  flames.  Nearly 
everything  was  destroj'cd.  The  missionary,  in  a  letter, 
says :  "'•  A  few  books  were  thrown  out  of  the  window, 
Gesenius'  Hebrew  Lexicon  and  a  few  others,  but  neither 
my  Hebrew  Bible,  Septuagint,  Vulgate,  French  Bible, 
nor  Greek  Testament,  nor  a  smgle  copy  of  the  English 
Scriptures,  were  saved.  A  short  time  since  I  had,  at  the 
request  of  Dr.  Williamson,  obtained  of  Mr.  M.  Renville 
his  father's  large  French  Bible,  for  the  library  of  the 
Mmnesota  Historical  Society.  It  was  printed  at  Geneva, 
Switzerland,  in  1588,  if  I  remember  correctly,  and  was 
not  only  the  oldest,  but  probahly  the  first  Bible  in  Min- 
nesota. For  its  historical  value  we  all  very  much  regret 
its  loss.  *  *  *  '''  *  When  Paul  and  those  who 
sailed  with  him  were  shipwrecked  on  the  island  of 
Melita,  he  says,  '  The  barbarous  people  showed  us  no 
little  kindness.'  How  often  have  I  thought  of  this 
within  a  few  days  !  While  some  of  the  Dahkotahs  came, 
both  during  and  after  the  fire,  to  steal,  the  majority 
exerted  themselves  to  save  for  us  w^hat  could  be  saved." 

During  the  same  month  Joseph  R.  Brown,  who  had 
been  editor  of  the  Pioneer,  Avas  succeeded  by  Earle  S. 
Goodrich,  the  present  conductor  of  the  paper. 


GREAT  RAILROAD  EXCURSION.  595 

Tuesday,  the  eighth  of  June,  is  a  day  that  will  long 
be  remembered  by  the  earlj^  settlers  of  Minnesota. 
Mr.  Farnham,  the  builder  of  the  Rock  Island  Railroad, 
to  mark  the  era  of  its  completion,  with  princely  libe- 
rality, extended  an  invitation  to  hundreds  of  "  the  wise 
men  of  the  East,"  to  accompany  him,  via  the  Chicago 
and  Rock  Island  Road,  on  a  pleasure  excursion  to  the 
Upper  Mississippi.  At  the  wharf  at  Rock  Island,  the 
company  found  five  large  steamers  ready  to  receive 
them.  Among  the  guests  Avere  some  of  the  prominent 
statesmen,  divines,  scholars,  editors,  and  merchants  of 
the  land.^  Passing  through  Lake  Pepin,  on  a  beautiful 
night,  the  steamers  quietlj'  approached  each  other,  and 
being  fastened  together,  the  signal  was  given  for  a  gene- 
ral exchange  of  visits  from  boat  to  boat.  The  scene  of 
grandeur  and  excitement,  as  these  boats  moved  through 
the  lake,  side  by  side,  with  their  precious  freight,  will 
probably  never  be  repeated.  Arriving  near  St.  Paul  a 
day  sooner  than  was  anticipated,  the  firing  of  a  cannon 
on  board  of  the  steamer  in  advance,  created  considerable 
surprise  and  confusion,  as  the  preparations  for  the  proper 
reception  of  one  thousand  guests  were  not  completed. 
All  felt  that  they  could  not  return  without  beholding  the 
Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  and  yet  appropriate  vehicles  were 
very  scarce.  Though  a  man  could  have  given  a  king- 
dom, he  could  not  have  obtained  a  horse  for  himself. 
The  ride  to  St.  Anthony  was  however  accomplished, 

*  Ex-President  Fillmore.  Professor  H.  B.  Smith,  New  York. 

George  Bancroft.  Rev.  Dr.  Vermilye. 

Professor  Silliman.  Rev.  Dr.  Spring. 

Edward  Robinson,  LL.  D.  Rev.  Dr.  Bacon. 

Professor  Gibbs,  Yale  College.  Charles  Sedgwick. 

Professor  Larned,  Yale  College.  Miss    Catharine    Sedgwick,    and 

Professor  Parker,  Harvard.  many  others. 


596  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

after  a  fashion.     A  Galena  editor  thus  described  the 
scene  : — 

"  The  '  March  to  Finchley'  was  nothing  compared  to 
our  motley  cavalcade.  Here  was  a  governor  astride  a 
sorry  Rozinante  of  which  even  the  great  Don  would 
have  been  ashamed;  here  an  United  States  Senator, 
acting  the  part  of  footman,  stood  bold  upright  in  the 
baggage  boot  of  a  coach,  holding  on  by  the  iron  rail 
surrounding  the  top ;  here  the  historian  of  whom  the 
country  is  justly  proud,  squatted  on  the  top  of  a  crazy 
van,  unmindful  of  everything  but  himself,  his  book,  hat, 
and  spectacles ;  there  a  hot-house  flower,  nursed  in  some 
eastern  conservatory,  so  delicate  and  fragile  that  a  fall- 
ing leaf  might  crush  it,  but  a  beautiful  specimen  of  the 
feminine  gender  withal,  would  be  seated  over  the  hind 
axle  of  a  lumber  wagon,  supported  on  each  side  by  opera 
glass  exquisites,  who  only  wondered  '■  why  the  devil  the 
people  in  this  country  didn't  send  to  New  York  for 
better  carriages  ?'  and  whose  groans  between  every  jolt, 
furnished  amusement  for  the  more  hardy  of  the  party ; 
here  some  corpulent  madame,  whose  idea  of  a  ride  is 
bounded  by  luxuriant  cushions,  shining  hammer  cloths, 
spirited  horses,  and  obsequious  flunkies,  was  seated  in 
a  hard  bottom  chair,  in  an  open  one-horse  wagon,  first 
cousin  to  her  husband's  vegetable  drag,  or  perhaps  his 
pedlar's  cart,  before  riches  came  to  bless  them  (about 
which  she  has  forgotten  of  course),  here  she  was,  sur- 
rounded perhaps  by  the  canaille  whom  she  has  learned 
in  latter  days  to  despise,  dragged  along  at  a  snail's  pace 
by  one  old  mare,  with  a  crazy,  foolish,  wickering  colt 
alongside,  to  torment  her  and  to  make  the  driver  curse ; 
there  a  politician  who  has  ridden  successfully  more  than 


SPEECHES  OF  FILLMORE  AND  BANCROFT  AT  CAPITOL.     597 

one  easy  hobby,  would  have  been  glad  to  ride  a  rail. 
The  scene  was  animated  and  amusing !" 

In  the  afternoon  the  steamers  proceeded  to  Fort 
Snelling,  and  the  gates  being  thrown  open,  the  fort  was 
completely  stormed.  As  the  fair  company  retired  from 
the  green  sward,  within  the  walls,  the  fort  never  seemed  so 
lonely  to  the  young  lieutenants,  and  that  night  memory 
brought  the  light  of  other  da3's  around  them.  Return- 
ing to  St.  Paul  before  dark,  the  citizens  and  the  guests 
repaired  to  the  Capitol.  The  more  grave  listened  to 
speeches  in  the  Senate  Chamber,  from  Ex-President 
Fillmore,  and  Bancroft  the  historian,  while  the  more 
gay  tripped  it,  in  the  Supreme  Court  Room.  At  mid- 
night the  guests  embarked  on  their  respective  steamers, 
whose  bows  were  soon  turned  towards  the  homes  of  the 
visiters. 

On  the  following  Sunday,  a  clergyman,  who  had  not 
been  able  to  give  his  usual  attention  to  study,  preached 
a  discourse  suggested  by  the  occasion,  which  was  pub- 
lished in  one  of  the  St.  Paul  papers,  and  was  severely 
criticised  by  the  Daily  Times  of  New  York  city,  as  in- 
appropriate to  the  pulpit.  From  the  fact,  that  it  led 
to  some  profitable  discussion  on  what  a  sermon  should 
be,  we  give  an  abstract.     The  texts  were  : — 

"  Isaiah  xl.  3.  The  voice  of  him  that  crieth  in  the 
wilderness,  Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the  Lord,  make 
straight  in  the  desert  a  highway  for  our  God.  Every 
valley  shall  be  exalted,  and  every  mountain  and  hill 
shall  be  made  low ;  and  the  crooked  shall  be  made 
straight,  and  the  rough  places  plain. 

"  Judges  V.  6.  In  the  days  of  Shamgar  the  son  of 
Anath,  in  the  days  of  Jael,  the  highways  were  unoccu- 
pied and  the  travellers  walked  through  byways." 


598  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

The  introduction  was  in  these  words : — 

"  The  Proi^het  Isaiah,  in  uttering  this  hmguage,  fore- 
told in  figurative  expressions,  the  pioneer  work  of  John 
the  Baptist,  yet  it  primarily  was  apjjlied  to  the  return 
of  the  Hebrews  from  their  captivity  in  Babylon. 

"  Not  only  in  the  days  of  Shamgar,  but  during  all  of 
the  earlier  periods  of  the  history  of  the  world,  there  was 
but  little  international  intercourse.  The  means  of  trans- 
portation were  exceedingly  limited,  and  there  were  few 
roads  that  were  common  thoroughfares  for  nations. 

"  Here  and  there,  over  the  mountains  and  through 
the  valleys,  there  were  the  trails  of  the  hunter  and  rest- 
less adventurer,  and  pathways  of  sheep  and  their  shep- 
herds, but  seldom  was  there  a  highway  of  any  costliness 
extending  beyond  the  national  boundaries.  It  was  the 
policy  of  the  day  to  intrench  or  wall  themselves  around, 
and  cut  off  the  intercommunication  of  the  people.  When, 
therefore,  great  bodies  of  men  were  necessitated  to  move 
toward  some  distant  land,  a  preparatory  work  was  needed. 
Pioneers  preceding  the  army  or  caravan,  made  highways 
for  their  passage,  smoothing  down  the  rough  hills  and 
filling  up  the  marshy  valleys. 

"  Diodorus,  an  ancient  historian,  in  giving  an  account 
of  Semiramis,  Queen  of  Babylon,  says :  '  In  her  march 
to  Ecbatane,  she  came  to  the  Zarcean  mountain,  which, 
extending  many  furlongs,  and  being  full  of  craggy  pre- 
cipices and  deep  hollows,  could  not  be  passed  without 
taking  a  great  compass.  Being  therefore  desirous  of 
leaving  an  everlasting  memorial  of  herself,  as  well  as 
shortening  the  way,  she  ordered  the  precipices  to  be 
digged  down  and  the  hollows  to  be  filled  up,  and  at  a 
great  expense  she  made  a  shorter  and  more  expeditious 


RAILWAYS  IN  THEIR  RELIGIOUS  ASPECTS.  599 

road,  which  to  this  day  is  called  from  her  the  road  of 
Semiramis.' 

"  Babylon  was  separated  from  Judea  by  a  wide  and 
dreary  country,  and  no  doubt  pioneers  were  literally 
sent  on  before  to  '  make  straight  in  the  desert  a  high- 
way.' 

"  Since  the  advent  of  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and 
fifty-four,  the  community  in  which  we  dwell  have  been 
greatly  interested  in  the  propositions  for  making  a 
straight  iron  higliAvay  from  the  head  of  Lake  Superior 
to  this  point  on  the  Mississippi,  and  from  hence  to 
the  waters  of  the  Pacific,  connecting  with  bracelets  of 
iron  the  Naiads  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  Mississippi,  and 
Columbia. 

"  Every  mail  is  watched  with  eagerness,  in  the  hope 
that  it  may  bring  the  intelligence  that  the  National 
Congress  has  taken  measures  for  exalting  the  valleys 
and  lowering  the  hills  and  mountains  that  lie  between 
our  Mediterranean  and  Pacific. 

"  The  week  that  has  passed  has  been  signalized  by 
the  arrival  of  hundreds  of  our  fellow-countrymen  on  an 
excursion  in  boats  as  far  excelling  in  splendour  the  re- 
nowned barges  of  the  luxurious  Cleopatra,  as  those  sur- 
passed the  osier  vessels  of  the  Briton,  or  the  birchen 
canoe  of  the  Ojibway, — who  have  been  gratified  and 
astonished  by  a  continuous  journey  in  a  steam  vehicle 
from  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic  to  the  head  of  naviga- 
tion of  the  mighty  Mississippi,  in  the  brief  space  of  a 
few  days. 

" '  To  every  thing  there  is  a  season,  and  a  time  to 
every  purpose  under  heaven,'  saith  Ecclesiastes. 

"  Fatigued  with  the  multiplied  duties  of  last  week, 
unfitted   for   severe   thought,  and   believing  that   the 


GOO  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

theme  can  be  appropriately  discussed,  without  infring- 
ing upon  the  sacredness  of  the  day,  or  deviating  from 
the  dignity  of  the  pulpit,  we  enter  upon  the  conside'ra- 
tion  of  railways  and  other  modes  of  international  com- 
munication, in  the  higher  and  religious  aspects." 

The  preacher  proceeded  to  show  that  they  decrease 
idleness ;  expand  the  mind  of  the  nation ;  were  aids  to 
contentment;  rode  over  sectional  f)rejudices;  promoted 
a  common  healthful  public  sentiment ;  and  lastly,  were 
agencies  in  the  promotion  of  pure  and  undefiled  religion. 
Under  this  head  the  clergyman  remarked : — 

"  First :  They  draw  the  emigrant  population  to  cer- 
tain localities.  Before  the  mountains  were  depressed, 
and  the  valleys  exalted,  and  the  rough  places  made 
plain,  the  roads  were  so  unbroken  that  the  farmer  mov- 
ing into  a  new  land,  was  not  attracted  by  the  beaten 
path,  but  he  branched  off  in  the  direction  inclination 
promj)ted.  Settlements  consequently  were  much  scat- 
tered, and  it  was  difficult  for  him  who  longed  to  pro- 
claim the  unsearchable  riches  of  Jesus  Christ  to  discover 
the  abiding  places  of  the  lost  sheep  of  Israel.  It  was 
almost  impossible  in  the  first  period  of  the  settlement 
of  a  new  country  to  pass  from  house  to  house,  on  ac- 
count of  the  impassable  state  of  the  road.  But  the 
condition  of  affairs  has  changed. 

"  The  emigrant  population  of  the  Atlantic  and  Euro- 
pean states  are  drawn  as  if  by  magnetic  influence  along 
the  great  iron  railway  leading  from  the  eastern  cities  of 
commerce  to  the  remotest  west.  In  this  way,  made 
acquainted  with  the  sections  of  land  in  the  vicinity,  and 
knowing  the  advantages  of  a  railway  in  finding  a  mar- 
ket for  produce,  they  settle  along  the  line  of  the  great 
inland  road,  and  the  labourer  in  Christ's  cause,  finds  the 


RAILROADS  ANTIDOTES  TO  BIGOTRY.  601 

fields  white  for  the  harvest,  and  numbers  in  the  same 
neighbourhood  to  whom  the  gospel  should  be  preached. 
B3'  'these  highways  he  is  enabled  to  advance  along  with, 
or  before  the  wave  of  emigration,  and  commence  turn- 
ing the  wilderness  into  the  garden  of  the  Lord,  before 
the  rank  weeds  of  error  have  taken  deep  root. 

"Had  the  means  of  conveyance  to  this  town  not 
been  expeditious,  the  ministers  of  Jesus  Christ,  would 
not  have  been  here  at  the  laying  of  the  foundation 
stones  of  our  territorial  existence,  and  years  would  have 
probably  elapsed  before  so  many  temples  erected  to  the 
worship  of  the  true  and  living  God  would  have  been 
visible,  or  the  community  ueached  its  present  position 
in  the  scale  of  civilization. 

"'  Secondly :  They  aid  religion  by  proving  antidotes  to 
bigotry.  When  the  wagon  drawn  by  oxen  was  the  mode 
of  conveyance  to  a  new  country,  but  few  penetrated  the 
wilds  of  the  west,  except  those  who  had  been  driven 
away  from  the  homestead  of  their  fathers  by  poverty 
or  other  misfortune. 

''  Far  away  from  all  refining  influences,  they  rapidly 
degenerated;  their  children,  debarred  the  knowledge  of 
the  common  school,  grew  up  without  education,  and 
were  semi-barbarous.  The  only  religious  teachers  they 
possessed  were  those  who  came  to  them  because  they 
knew  they  were  ignorant  and  ripe  for  error,  or  because 
their  own  ignorance  had  rendered  them  unfit  for  the 
exercise  of  the  ministry  where  there  was  intelligence. 
Under  the  guidance  of  these,  they  grew  up  with  strong 
prejudices  towards  those  who  attempted  to  present  the 
truth  in  a  difierent  light,  or  a  more  polished  dress,  or 
wore  a  blacker  coat.  The  religion  they  possessed  was 
tinctured  with  the  quintessence  of  bigotry. 


602  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

"  Through  the  influence  of  railways  and  steam  car- 
riages, this  state  of  things  has  been  almost  dissipated. 

"  The  very  year  a  town  starts  into  existence,  the  in- 
habitants are  visited  by  religious  teachers  of  various 
schools  of  belief  The  student  who  has  been  disciplined 
in  the  college,  and  who  has  studied  the  Bible  systemati- 
cally, as  well  as  he  who  has  hurried  from  the  work-bench 
into  the  pulpit,  stand  side  by  side. 

"  He  who  defends  the  general  teachings  of  Calvin,  and 
he  who  eulogizes  Wesley,  appear  before  the  same  audi- 
ence, perhaps  upon  the  same  Sabbath.  It  will  not  do 
for  either  to  show  an  improper  spirit,  or  an  unwise 
sectarian  zeal.  Men  who  Hsten  to  the  herald  of  salvar 
tion  in  such  circumstances  are  not  won  to  Christ  by  a 
minister  of  the  gospel  depreciating  his  fellow-ministers. 
They  are  impenitent  under  discourses  in  which  there  is 
an  attempt  to  prove  that  none  are  safe  out  of  the  line 
of  a  certain  succession,  or  off  of  certain  platforms  of 
faith.  They  demand  that  those  truths  shall  be  preached 
which  will  convince  them  that  religion  is  adapted  to 
expand  the  mind,  and  promote  man's  highest  well-being. 
They  become  acquainted  with  the  writings  of  Fenelon 
and  Pascal,  Leighton  and  Taylor,  Edwards  and  Chal- 
mers, Wesley  and  Fletcher,  and  love  them  not  because 
of  denominational  peculiarities,  but  because  of  their 
likeness  to  Jesus.  The  contractedness  that  in  days  gone 
by  was  manifested  in  places  that  were  settled  almost 
exclusively  by  Scotch  Presbyterians,  English  Puritans, 
and  Wesley  an  Methodists,  in  this  progressive  age  will 
now  disappear,  and  religion  will  assume  a  higher  and 
more  effective,  because  a  more  scriptural  type. 

"  Thirdly :  Religion  is  promoted  by  the  construction 
of  expeditious  routes  of  travel,  because  there  is  a  great 


RAILWAYS  SAVE  TIME.  603 

saving  of  time.  The  days  that  were  once  lost  by  a 
minister  in  passing  from  preaching  station  to  preaching 
station,  are  saved  upon  a  line  of  railway,  or  a  river 
navigated  by  regular  steamers.  He  can  accomplish  in 
a  few  hours  what  once  occupied  as  many  days,  and  thus 
he  has  more  time  for  studj^,  prayer,  and  meditation. 

"Under  the  improved  system  of  travelling,  a  man 
like  the  eloquent  Dr.  Duff,  can  cross  the  ocean,  and  one 
Sunday  hold  the  attention  of  thousands  on  the  Atlantic 
coast,  and  on  the  next  be  discoursing  to  an  audience 
equally  interested  far  away  in  the  valley  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, and  ere  long  a  divine  can  pass  his  third  Sabbath 
with  the  future  dwellers  on  the  mountain  tops  of  Oregon, 
and  the  fourth  Sabbath,  address  a  congregation  on  the 
Pacific  coast. 

"Finally,  our  great  thoroughfares  are  destined  to 
facilitate  intercourse  with  the  Pagan  Avorld  of  Asia,  and 
hasten  the  approach  of  Millennial  glory. 

'  Coming  events  cast  their  shadows  before.' 

"  For  more  than  two  centuries  an  impression  has  pre- 
vailed that  the  welfare  of  the  whole  globe  would  be 
promoted  by  a  channel  of  travel  through  North  America, 
connecting  the  western  settlements  of  Europe  with  the 
eastern  nations  of  Asia.  The  island  of  Montreal  was 
named  by  Robert  de  La  Salle, '  China,'  to  commemorate 
his  cherished  plan  of  civilizing  and  evangelizing  the 
great  empire  of  that  name,  by  establishing  a  channel  of 
communication  through  this  continent.  Hennepin,  the 
first  European  that  ever  ascended  the  Mississippi,  and 
the  discoverer  of  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  was  a  Fran- 
ciscan priest,  despatched  by  the  adventurous  La  Salle 


604  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

to  explore  a  route  to  Japan,  wliicli  he  thought  could  be 
found  in  this  direction. 

"The  first  British  subject  that  entered  Minnesota, 
about  a  century  ago,  predicted  that  there  would  be  'a 
short  cut  made  from  New  York  to  Green  Bay,'  and  had 
no  doubt,  to  use  his  own  words,  ^  that  mighty  kingdoms 
would  emerge  from  these  wildernesses,  and  stately  palaces 
and  solemn  temples  with  gilded  spires  rending  the  skies, 
supplant  the  Indian  huts,  whose  only  decorations  are 
the  barbarous  trophies  of  their  vanquished  enemies.' 
Returning  to  London,  he  formed  a  plan,  with  the  aid 
of  a  member  of  Parliament,  'that  would  disclose  new 
sources  of  trade,  promote  many  useful  discoveries,  and 
open  a  passage  for  conveying  intelligence  to  China  and 
the  English  settlements  in  the  East  Indies,  with  greater 
expedition  than  a  tedious  voyage  by  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope  or  the  Straits  of  Magellan.' 

"  Had  not  the  American  Revolution  taken  place,  it 
was  designed  to  have  built  a  fort  at  Lake  Pepin,  to  have 
proceeded  up  the  river  St.  Pierre  (now  known  by  its 
original  name,  Minnesota),  then  up  a  branch  of  the 
Missouri,  till  they  discovered,  as  they  supposed  they 
could,  the  river  Oregon,  down  which  they  expected  to 
sail  into  the  Pacific. 

"  One  year  ago,  we  witnessed  a  civil  and  military 
expedition  start  forth  from  our  vicinity,  by  order  of  the 
United  States,  in  search  of  the  long-desired  thoroughfare 
to  the  Pacific.  The  commander  of  that  expedition  ^  has 
returned  to  Washington,  by  the  way  of  San  Francisco, 
and  reports  that  such  a  route  is  entirely  practicable. 

"  On  Thursday  of  the  last  week,  men  distinguished 
in  the  professional,  scientific,  and  commercial  circles  of 
the  country,  visited  us,  and  felt  that  the  day  was  not 

^  Governor  Stevens. 


PACIFIC  RAILROAD  PROMOTER  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  605 

far  distant  Avhen  the  waters  of  Superior  and  Pacific 
would  be  bound  together.  Let  this  only  occur,  and 
who  can  doubt  that  the  Redeemer's  kingdom  will  be 
extended,  that — 

"  From  Java  to  the  furthest  West 
The  heavenly  light  shall  reach, 
And  truth  divine  its  power  attest 
In  every  clime  and  speech." 

"  A  Pacific  Railroad  would  be  a  voice  in  the  wilder- 
ness, saying,  '  Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the  Lord,  make 
his  paths  straight.  Every  valley  shall  be  filled,  and 
every  mountain  and  hill  shall  be  brought  low ;  and  the 
crooked  shall  be  made  straight,  and  the  rough  ways 
shall  be  made  smooth ;  and  all  flesh  shall  see  the  salva- 
tion of  God.' 

"  In  view  of  the  good  results,  it  becomes  Christians 
to  watch  with  interest  the  enterprises  of  the  day. 
Every  great  invention  is  an  aid  to  the  cause  of  religion. 
The  telescope,  the  printing  press,  the  telegraph,  the 
ocean  steamers,  a  Pacific  Railwaj^,  are  ordained  by  God, 
not  for  the  pulling  down  but  the  upbuilding  of  religion 
— they  are  all  working  together  to  produce  the  grand 
consummation  of  giving  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  to 
Christ — of  bringing  about  the  day  when  all  will  cry  : — 

"  Worthy  the  Lamb,  for  he  was  slain  for  us ; 
The  dwellers  in  the  vales  and  on  the  rocks 
Shout  to  each  other,  and  the  mountain  tops 
From  distant  mountains  catch  the  flying  joy ; 
Till,  nation  after  nation  taught  the  strain. 
Earth  rolls  the  rapturous  hosanna  round." 

"  With  a  few  remarks  we  close  the  discourse. 

"  In  such  a  fast  age  every  Christian  must  be  up  and 


006  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

doing.  It  is  high  time  to  awake  out  of  sleep.  We 
must  gird  ourselves  up  for  the  race,  and  pray  earnestly 
that  we  may  not  as  a  Church  of  Christ  be  found  lag- 
ging when  all  things  else  are  advancing  with  accele- 
rated speed.  This  one  thing  we  ought  to  do — '  Forget- 
ting those  things  which  are  behind,  and  reaching  forth 
unto  those  things  that  are  before,  we  should  press 
toward  the  mark  for  the  prize  of  the  high  calling  of 
God  in  Christ  Jesus.' 

"  It  would  be  doing  violence  to  my  own  feelings,  and 
a  neglect  of  ministerial  duty,  if  I  should  conclude  this 
discourse  without  reminding  this  audience  that  this 
world  is  a  great  station-house,  in  which  we  are  await- 
ing the  approach  of  the  cars  that  lead  to  '  that  bourne 
from  whence  no  traveller  returns,'  but  through  which 
every  traveller  passes  to  regions  of  bliss  or  despair. 

"  My  hearers !  some  of  you  have  tickets  that  will 
lead  you  to  hell.  The  car  of  death  is  hastening  on, 
swifter  than  an  eagle  hasteneth  to  its  prey,  or  any 
'  lightning  train.'  Before  it  arrives  we  urge  you  to 
change  that  ticket.  Christ  is  always  in  his  office.  He 
says,  '  If  an}'  man  knocketh,  the  door  shall  be  opened.' 
K  any  man  asketh,  he  will  change  his  ticket,  and  that 
^without  money  and  without  price.' 

"  Hasten  before  it  is  too  late.  Now  !  now !  now  !  '  is 
the  accepted  time,  and  now  is  the  day  of  salvation.' " 

On  the  twenty-ninth  of  the  month  of  this  excursion. 
Congress  passed  an  act  to  aid  the  Territory  of  Minne- 
sota in  the  construction  of  a  railroad  therein,  which  was 
approved  by  the  President,  and  directions  were  issued 
from  the  General  Land  Office  to  the  offices  in  Minnesota, 
withdrawing  from  sale  a  city,  certain  townships  on  the 
line  of  the  proposed  road.     The  citizens  of  Minnesota 


REPEAL  OF  LAND  GRANT  BY  CONGRESS.  607 

received  the  intelligence  with  joyful  enthusiasm,  but  the 
Greek  proverb, 

there's  many  a  slip  loetween  the  cup  and  the  lip,  was 
soon  fulfilled. 

On  the  twenty-fourth  of  July,  in  the  House  of  Kepre- 
sentatives  of  the  United  States,  Mr.  Wa.shburne,  of 
Illinois,  rose  to  a  question  of  privilege.  He  said  the 
House,  on  the  twenty-ninth  of  June,  passed  the  bill 
granting  lands  to  Minnesota,  to  aid  in  the  construction 
of  railroads,  and  a  material  alteration  had  been  made 
since  its  engrossment.  The  bill  was  introduced  here  by 
the  Committee  on  Public  Lands.  It  was  drawn  up  by 
a  gentleman  from  Minnesota,  who  was  well  acquainted 
with  the  subject,  and  who  had  frequent  consultations 
with  him  (Mr,  Washburne)  concerning  its  provisions. 
Minnesota  had  chartered  a  company  with  most  extra- 
ordinary powers,  granting  to  it  all  the  lands  which  have 
been  or  may  hereafter  be  donated  to  that  territory  for 
the  construction  of  railroads.  The  House,  to  avoid  this, 
added  a  proviso  that  said  lands  shall  be  subject  to  the 
disposition  of  an}^  future  legislature  for  the  purpose 
aforesaid.  Nor  shall  they  inure  to  the  benefit  of  any 
company  hereafter  to  be  constituted  or  organized.  This 
was  the  way  the  bill  was  originally  framed,  to  prevent 
the  company  from  receiving  the  benefit  of  the  grant. 
The  first  alteration  he  noticed  was  the  striking  out  of 
the  word  "  future,"  but  this  he  believed  was  made  by 
the  committee.  The  second  alteration,  which  lie  charged 
with  being  made  after  the  bill  was  engrossed,  was  the 
changing  of  the  word  "  or"  to  the  wprd  "  and,"  so  as  to 
read  "constituted  and  organized  company."  This  com- 
pany, not  being  constituted  and  organized,  expects  to 


G08  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

hold  these  lands  under  the  bill,  and  hence  he  charged 
this  object  in  the  alteration.  The  word  was  in  a  hand 
different  from  that  of  the  engrossment.  This  was  a 
matter  affecting  deeply  the  proceedings  of  the  House, 
and  it  was  due  that  an  examination  should  be  made,  as 
the  records  of  this  House  have  been  mutilated. 

Mr.  Washburne  said  he  understood  the  bill  was 
altered  after  it  was  sent  from  the  House  to  the  Senate. 
He  offered  a  resolution  for  the  appointment  of  a  select 
committee  to  inquire  into  the  fact  which  he  brought 
before  the  House,  with  power  to  send  for  j)ersons  and 
papers,  and  to  examine  witnesses  under  oath. 

Mr.  Stevens,  of  Michigan,  rose  to  make  a  personal 
explanation  with  reference  to  the  subject  on  which  the 
special  committee  had  a  short  time  since  been  ordered 
to  be  appointed.  He  intended  to  make  his  statement 
on  honour.  After  the  Minnesota  Land  Bill  had  been 
sent  to  the  Committee  on  Public  Lands,  of  which  he  is 
a  member,  it  was  referred  to  him  for  his  individual 
action  on  it.  Gentlemen  who  were  connected  with  the 
bill  called  on  him,  and  requested  that  certain  alterations 
should  be  made  in  the  third  section  before  he  returned 
the  bill  to  the  committee.  The  alterations  desired  were 
explained.  One  of  them  was  to  affect  the  subject  of 
legislation  in  Minnesota  in  relation  to  lands  granted  by 
Congress,  and  he,  with  his  own  hands,  struck  from  the 
original  bill  the  word  "future."  The  other  was  the 
alteration  of  the  word  "  or"  to  "  and,"  and  he  thought 
proper  it  should  be  made,  and  he  supposed  he  had  made 
it.  He  presented  the  bill  with  some  explanation  to  the 
Committee  on  Public  Lands,  which  approved  of  it.  He 
then  reported  it  to  the  House.  It  passed,  and  was  sent 
to  the  Senate.     After  getting  there,  his  attention  was 


DISCUSSION  IN  U.  S.  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES.        609 

called  to  the  bill.  It  was  remarked  that  the  alteration 
which  he  said  he  had  made,  he  did  uot  make,  or  that 
the  bill  did  not  contain  the  alteration.  He  conferred 
with  one  or  two  gentlemen  of  the  Senate,  and  told  them 
frankly  that  when  he  reported  the  bill  to  the  Committee 
on  Public  Lands,  he  made  the  alterations,  or  intended 
to  do  so.  Subsequently  one  of  the  Senate  clerks  came 
to  him  in  the  lobby  fronting  the  centre  door.  He  met 
General  Patton,  who  held  out  the  bill,  and  pointing  out 
the  third  section,  asked  him  whether  it  was  right.  To 
which  he  (Mr.  Stevens)  replied  it  was  not  right  as  it 
passed  from  the  Committee  on  Public  Lands,  and  ac- 
cording to  his  recollection,  he  further  said,  ''  You  will 
find,  if  you  look  at  the  original  draft,  the  word  '  and' 
instead  of  '  or  is  there."  He  went  to  the  desk  of  the 
House  engrossing  clerk  (Mr.  Sperle),  where  the  matter 
was  talked  over.  He  there  stated  he  had  supposed  he 
had  made  the  alteration  in  the  original  draft,  and 
thought  he  voted  for  the  bill  thus  amended.  The  ques- 
tion came  up  as  to  whether  the  alteration  could  be 
made,  and  several  Senators  said  it  was  a  mere  verbal 
alteration,  and  they  had  frequently  made  such. 

Mr.  Forney  said  he  did  not  know  whether  the  bill 
could  be  altered.  But  Mr.  Patton  said,  "  AVe  frequently 
make  such  alterations."  Whereupon  Colonel  Forney  re- 
marked, "  Then  perhaps  it  would  be  better  the  alteration 
should  be  made."  He  (Mr.  Stevens)  left,  and  he  sup- 
posed the  alteration  was  made  in  consequence  of  what 
had  taken  place.  He  wished  to  withhold  nothing,  but 
to  state  the  facts.  However  much  he  may  have  erred, 
he  wished  to  state  them  frankly.  If  he  had  sinned,  it 
was  an  error  of  judgment,  nothing  more.  He  was  per- 
fectly certain  that  Colonel  Forney,  in  giving  his  sanction 

39 


CIO  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

to  the  alteration,  supposed  he  was  right  and  justified  in 
so  doing.  He  wished  here  to  say,  this  was  the  first  and 
last  interview  he  had  with  Colonel  Forney  on  the  sub- 
ject. So  help  him  God,  he  did  not  then  know  of  any 
design  in  having  the  bill  changed  from  its  original  form; 
he  said  the  only  interest  he  had  in  the  bill  was  to  con- 
nect the  waters  of  the  Mississippi  with  the  lake  and 
steamboat  navigation,  and  thereby  benefit  other  states, 
and  the  substitution  of  the  word  "  and"  for  "  or"  could 
not  affect  the  original  purpose. 

On  the  morning  of  August  the  third  the  bill  was  re- 
pealed, and  the  news  was  quickly  transmitted  by  the 
energetic  delegate  of  Minnesota,  Hon.  H.  M.  Rice.^ 

The  Minnesota  and  North-western  Railroad  Com- 
pany contended  that  they  had  complied  with  the  pro- 
visions of  the  act  of  Congress,  and  that  that  body  had 
no  right  to  repeal.     A  complaint  was  brought  before 

^      Washixgtox,  Aug.  3,  1854,  the  clerk  of  the   House,  Col.  For- 

1  o'clock,  p.  M.  ney. 

Dear  Sir: — This  morning  the  se-  The  vote  to  repeal  Tvas  109  to  56. 

lect    committee    reported    that  the  The  vote  for  expelling  Col.  Forney 

->vord    "  and"    between    the  vrords  Tvas  ayes  18,  nays  154. 

"  constituted"  and  "organized"  had  The  Senate  must  now  act  in  re- 

heen  substituted  for  the  word  "or,"  gard  to  the  repeal  of  the  grant — its 

but  exonerated  Gen.  Stevens  and  the  non-concurrence  will  save  the  grant 

clerk  of  the  House — and  recommend-  — but  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  now 

ed  that  the  word  "  or"  be  reinstated,  give  a  conjecture  of  its  probable  ac- 

Mr.   Letcher's  (of    Virginia)  repeal  tion.     To-morrow  will  tell  the  tale : 

bill  was  introduced  and  carried  by  the  result  will  be  forwarded  by  tole- 

a  large  majority — so  the  House  has  graph.     Many  able  lawyers  are  of 

repealed  the  Minnesota  land  grant,  the  opinion  that  Congress  has  not 

The  testimony  taken  by  the  commit-  the  power  to  repeal  the  act.     That, 

tee  will  be  printed — a  copy  of  Avhich  however,  is  a  question  to  be  settled 

I  will  send  you  as  soon  as  possible —  hereafter. 

then  the  people  of  Minnesota  can  In  haste,  respectfully  yours, 

judge  for  themselves.     A  motion  is  H.  M.  Kice. 

now  before  the  House  to  discharge  D.  Olmsted,  Esq. 


DECISION  OF  JUDGE  WELCH  ON  RAILROAD  TRESPASS.   611 

Judge  Welch,  at  a  session  of  the  United  States  District 
Court,  in  Goodhue  countj-,  against  the  comj)any.  The 
complaint  alleged  that  the  company  had  cut  and  carried 
off  five  hundred  trees,  the  property  of  the  United  States, 
in  Goodhue  county.  On  the  fourth  of  November,  Chief 
Justice  Welch  gave  judgment  in  favour  of  the  railroad 
company.  The  case  was  carried  up  to  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Minnesota,-  on  December  sixth,  which  con- 
firmed the  decision  of  Chief  Justice  Welch.  Chancellor 
Walworth,  and  other  jurists  of  New  York,  furnished 
written  opinions  that  Congress  had  no  right  to  repeal 
the  act.  The  case  was  then  taken  to  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States.^ 

On  the  afternoon  of  December  twenty-seventh,  the 
first  public  execution  in  Minnesota,  in  accordance  with 
the  forms  of  law,  took  place.  Yuhazee,  the  Dahkotah 
who  had  been  convicted  in  November,  1852,  for  the 
murder  of  a  German  woman,  above  Shokpay,  was  the 
individual.  The  scaffold  was  erected  on  the  open  space, 
between  the  Franklin  House  and  the  rear  of  Mr.  J.  W. 
Selby's  enclosure.  About  two  o'clock,  the  prisoner, 
dressed  in  a  white  shroud,  left  the  old  log  prison,  near 
the  court  house,  and  entered  a  carriage  with  the  officers 
of  the  law.  Being  assisted  up  the  steps  that  led  to  the 
scaffold,  he  made  a  few  remarks  in  his  own  language, 
and  was  then  executed.  A  disgraceful  rabble  sur- 
rounded the  scaffold,  and  none  of  the  decencies  of  law 
were  manifested  on  the  occasion.  Says  an  editor,  "  liquor 
was  openly  passed  through  the  crowd,  and  the  last 
moments  of  the  poor  Indian  were  disturbed  by  baccha- 

^  At  the  December  Term,  1855,     continue    the   case,   which    motion 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,     was  granted, 
the  attorney-general  moved  to  dis- 


612 


HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 


naliaii  yells  and  cries.  Remarks  too  heartless  and  de- 
praved, in  regard  to  the  deceased,  to  come  from  men, 
were  freely  bandied.  A  half-drunken  father  could  be 
seen  holding  in  his  arms  a  child  eager  to  see  well; 
criddv  and  senseless  Q;irls  chatted  with  their  attendants, 
and  old  women  were  seen  vying  with  drunken  ruffians 
for  a  place  near  the  gallows."  Numerous  ladies  sent  in 
a  petition  to  the  governor,  asking  the  pardon  of  the 
Indian,  to  which  that  officer  made  an  appropriate  reply.^ 


^  Executive  Department,  M.  T.,  \ 
St.  Paul,  Dec.  28,  1854.     J 

Ladies : — I  have  the  honour  to  ac- 
knowledge the  receipt  of  your  peti- 
tion, asking  me,  as  the  executive  of 
the  territory,  to  pardon  the  Indian 
now  under  sentence  of  death,  or  to 
commute  his  punishment  to  impris- 
onment for  life  in  the  penitentiary. 

I  cannot  conceal  the  sympathy  I 
feel,  in  common  with  each  of  you, 
on  this  melancholy  subject ;  and  I 
find  it  even  more  difficult  to  reject 
the  prayer  of  those  whose  hearts  are 
always  first  in  missions  of  mercy ; 
those  who  are  always  first  to  imitate 
the  divine  character  and  forgive. 
Those  whose  gentle  hands  smooth 
the  brow  of  the  sick  and  afflicted. 
Those  who  are  first  to  console  even 
in  the  last  hours  of  trial.  And  this 
petition  is  a  high  compliment  to 
these  many  virtues,  and  even  a  still 
higher  one  to  the  benevolence  of 
your  hearts.  "  To  forget  is  a  vir- 
tue; but  to  forgive  is  divine."  But, 
ladies,  I  deeply  regret,  that,  in  ac- 
cordance with  what  I  deem  to  be 
my  duty  to  the  country,  and  the 
general  peace  of  society,  I  cannot 
consistently  grant  the  prayer  of 
your  petition. 

The  murder  for  which  this  unfor- 


tunate child  of  nature  is  condemned, 
was  without  a  shadow  of  excuse. 
It  was  seemingly  deliberate,  and  his 
victim  was  of  your  sex,  innocent  and 
defenceless.  She  was  murdered  by 
the  side  of  a  poor,  but  no  doubt 
fond  and  devoted  husband,  while  in 
the  public  highway,  wending  their 
course  to  a  new  home. 

If  such  criminals  should  be  al- 
lowed to  escape  the  stern  demands 
of  the  law,  others  of  his  savage  tribe 
might  be  tempted  to  hope  for  a 
like  release,  and  commit  a  like  of- 
fence ;  and  the  danger  of  such  re- 
sults would  be  far  greater  from  In- 
dians than  from  civilized  man. 

Every  effort  that  can  be  has  beeu 
made  to  save  him  by  the  law.  An 
impartial  jury  of  the  country  gave 
him  a  fair  trial,  and  found  him  guil- 
ty. And  there  is  no  just  reason 
known  to  stay  the  execution  of  the 
penalty  of  the  law. 

With  sentiments  of  the  highest 
personal  regard, 

I  am,  most  respectfully. 
Your  ob't  serv't, 

W.  A.  GORMAX. 

To  Mrs.  Julia  E.  Fillmore,  Mrs.  An- 
na E.  Ramsey,  Mrs.  E.  R.  Hol- 
liushead,  and  others. 


FIRST  BRIDGE  ACROSS  THE  MISSISSIPPI.  613 


CHAPTER   XXYIII. 

The  disciigsion  concerning  the  charter  of  the  Min- 
nesota and  North-western  Eaih^oad  Company  did  not 
terminate  with  the  year  1854. 

The  sixth  session  of  the  legislature  convened  on  the 
third  of  January,  1855.  S.  B.  Olmstead  was  elected 
President  of  the  Council,  and  C.  Gardner  Speaker  of 
the  House. 

About  the  last  of  January,  the  two  houses  adjourned 
one  day  to  attend  the  exercises  occasioned  by  the  open- 
ing of  the  first  bridge  of  any  kind  over  the  mighty 
Mississippi  ever  completed,  from  Lake  Itasca  to  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico.  It  is  made  of  wire,  and  at  the  time 
of  its  opening,  the  patent  for  the  land  on  which  the  west 
piers  were  built  had  not  been  issued  from  the  Land 
Office,  a  striking  evidence  of  the  rapidity  with  which 
Minnesota  is  being  developed. 

The  governor,  in  his  message  to  the  legislature,  took 
strong  ground  against  the  railroad  charter,  and  in  the 
United  States  House  of  Representatives  a  resolution  was 
passed  declaring  the  charter  of  the  Minnesota  and  North- 
western Company  null.  On  the  twenty-seventh  of  Fel> 
ruary,  the  United  States  Senate  refused  to  approve  of  the 
resolution  that  had  passed  the  House,  annulling  the 
charter  of  the  company.  The  news  that  the  charter 
was  not  annulled  caused  great  rejoicing  among  the 
friends  of  the  railroad,  and  on  Saturday  night,  March 


614 


HISTORY  OF  xMINNESOTA. 


twenty-fourth,  there  was  a  general  iUumination  of  the 
principal  stores  and  residences  of  the  capital. 

Governor  Gorman  having  vetoed  a  bill  passed  by  the 
Minnesota  legislature,  amending  the  act  incorporating 
the  Minnesota  and  North-western  Railroad  Company,  it 
was  again  passed  in  the  legislature  on  February  twentj'- 
first,  by  a  two-thirds  vote,  and  became  a  law. 

On  the  twenty-ninth  of  March,  a  convention  was  held 
at  St.  Anthony,  wdiich  led  to  the  formation  of  the  Repub- 
lican party  of  Minnesota.  This  body  took  measures  for 
the  holding  of  a  territorial  convention  at  St.  Paul,  which 
convened  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  July,  and  William  R. 
Marshall  was  nominated  as  delegate  to  Congress. 
Shortly  after  the  friends  of  Mr.  Sibley  nominated  David 
Olmsted  and  Henry  M.  Rice,  the  former  delegate  was 


also    a   can 

didal 

te.      ' 

rhe 

contest   was 

anin 

aated. 

and 

resulted  in 

the  election  of  Mr.  Rice.^ 

*  Vote  for  Delegate 

: — 

Counties. 

Kice. 

ilarshall. 

Olmsted 

Counties. 

Rice. 

Marshall 

Olmsted 

Blue  Earth, 

54 

52 

12 

Nicollet,  .     . 

85 

34 

39 

Brown,* 

30 

Olmsted,*    . 

100 

Benton,  .     . 

195 

52 

121 

Pierce,     .     . 

Carver,    .     . 

37 

28 

33 

Pembina, 

46 

Cass,  .     .     . 

57 

Rice,  .     .     . 

50 

226 

48 

Chisago, 

104 

61 

11 

Renville, 

Dahkotah,    . 

153 

161 

OO  1 

ooJ. 

Ramsey, 

735 

5W 

529 

Dodge,     .     . 

48 

49 

1 

Scott,       .     . 

190 

125 

127 

Doty,*     .     .     . 

100 

Stearns,  .     . 

125 

7 

42 

Davis,      .     .     . 

Sibley,     .     . 

96 

4 

1 

Fillmore, 

185 

151 

9 

Superior,*    . 

200 

Freeborn,     . 

Steele,     .     . 

Faribault,    . 

Todd,       .     . 

9 

Goodhue, 

184 

126 

1 

Wabashaw, 

18 

103 

30 

Hennepin,    . 

358 

415 

80 

Winona, 

132 

134 

57 

Houston,*    . 

115 

16 

Washington, 

292 

121 

37 

Itasca,     .     . 

Wright,^ .     . 

11 

63 

18 

Le  Sueur,*  . 

56 

55 

19 

Mower,* .     . 

.    40 

3705 

2493 

1746 

•  Incomplete. 

SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN.— LEGISLATURE  OF  1S5G.  G15 

About  noon  of  December  twelfth,  1855,  a  four  horse 
vehicle  was  seen  driving  rapidly  through  St.  Paul ;  and 
deep  was  the  interest  when  it  was  announced  that  one 
of  the  Arctic  exploring  part}',  Mr.  James  Stewart,  was 
on  his  way  to  Canada  with  relics  of  the  world-renowned 
and  world-mourned  Sir  John  Franklin.  Gathering  to- 
gether the  precious  fragments  found  on  Montreal  island 
and  vicinity,  the  party  had  left  the  region  of  icebergs 
on  the  ninth  of  August,  and  after  a  continued  land 
journe}'  from  that  time  had  reached  St.  Paul  on  that 
day  en  route  to  the  Hudson  Bay  Company's  quarters  m 
Canada. 

The  seventh  session  of  the  Legislative  Assembty  was 
begun  on  the  second  of  January,  1856,  and  again  the 
exciting  question  was  the  Minnesota  and  North-western 
Kailroad  Company. 

John  B.  Brisbin  was  elected  President  of  the  Council, 
and  Charles  Gardiner,  Speaker  of  the  House. 

Governor  Gorman,  in  his  annual  message,  devoted 
much  space  to  railroad  projects,  and  expressed  his  oppo- 
sition to  the  Minnesota  and  North-western  Railroad. 
Contrary  to  what  the  community  had  anticipated,  on 
the  last  night  of  the  session,  the  governor  signed  a  bill 
giving  an  extension  of  time  to  the  company.  With  the 
announcement  of  the  approval,  he  submitted  the  follow- 
ing message : — 

"  I  have  this  day  approved  and  signed  an  act,  entitled 
^  An  act  granting  an  extension  of  time  to  the  Minnesota 
and  North-western  Railroad  Company,  and  for  other 
purposes.' 

"  This  bill  is  satisfactory  so  far  as  the  resulting  in- 
terest is  concerned,  jQi  there  are  not  such  guards  as  in 


616  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

mj  judgment  should  Ije  thrown  around  so  important  an 
mterest  as  is  involved  in  this  company's  charter. 

"  I  have,  from  the  beginning  of  this  railroad  question, 
earnestly  sought  the  permanent  welfare  of  Minnesota, 
and  in  conjunction  with  many  faithful  and  upright  men 
in  public  and  private  life,  finally  succeeded  in  procuring 
two  per  cent,  upon  the  gross  proceeds,  receipts,  and 
income  of  said  road. 

"  This  percentage,  if  the  road  is  ever  built,  is  to  be 
applied  to  the  governmental  expenses  of  our  future  state, 
and  must  yield  ample  means  in  a  few  years  to  relieve 
our  fellow-citizens  from  all  state  taxes  for  state  pur- 
poses, and  must  be  admitted  by  all  as  an  important 
event  to  the  tax-payers  of  our  country. 

"If,  on  the  other  hand,  said  company  shall  not  con- 
struct the  road  nor  get  the  land,  nothing  can  be  lost  to 
the  people.  I  have  yielded  other  objections,  because 
three  several  legislatures  have  passed  favourably  upon 
this  company's  charter  and  amendments,  and  I  feel  that 
each  favourable  amendment  should  not  be  lost,  because 
others  are  desirable.  Strong  professions  of  am^Dle  capa- 
city to  build  this  road  have  been  made ;  we  shall  now 
see  how  far  they  are  to  be  reahzed ;  I  confess  that  my 
confidence  in  these  professions  is  still  feeble. 

"The  means  used  to  accomplish  ends  by  this  com- 
pany have  never  met  my  approval,  and  I  trust  never  will ; 
but  if  they  shall  fairly  and  legally  get  possession  of  the 
lands  granted  by  Congress  to  aid  in  constructing  said 
road,  I  trust  we  shall  have  no  cause  to  regret  having 
urged  the  demands  of  the  people  for  the  interest  and 
guards  w^e  have  succeeded  in  throwing  around  their 
corporate  powers.  Trusting  to  the  calm  and  consider- 
ate judgment  of  my  fellow-citizens,  and  especially  to 


LIST  OF  LEGISLATORS  OF  1856. 


617 


the  members  of  the  legislature,  I  leave  the  future  to 
develop  its  results." ' 

^  List  of  Members  of  the  Seventh  Session  of  the  Legislative  Assembly  of 

Minnesota. 


Balcomb,  Saint  A.  D. 
IJailley,  llenry  (i. 
Dooley.  Samuel 
Flandrau,  Charles  E. 
Freeborn.  William 
Hanson,  D.  M. 
Ludden.  .lolin  D. 
Lowry,  William  D. 
RoUiu.':,  John 
Ilolette,  Joseph 
Setzer,  Henry  N. 
Stone,  Lewis 
Tillotsou,  Benj.  F. 
Thompson,  C.  W. 
Brisbin,  John  B.,     1 
President.  / 


COUNTY. 


Winona 

Dabkotah 

Scott 

.Nicollet 

Goodhue 

Ilonucpiu 

Chisago 

Olmsted 

llamsoy 

I'embina 

Washington 

Benton 

Fillmoro 

Houston 

Kamsey 


POST-OFFICE. 

Winona 

Hastings 

Louisville 

Traverse  d'Sioux 

Red  Wing 

Minneapoliii 

Taylor's  Falls 

llochester 

St.  Anthony 

Pembina 

Stillwater 

Rovalton 

Ric-hiand 

Hokah 

St.  Paul 


AGE 

coxdi'n. 

26 

married 

27 

married 

57 

married 

26 

single 

30 

married 

2S 

married 

35 

single 

34 

married 

4S 

married 

35 

married 

31 

married 

60 

widow'r 

35 

married 

30 

single 

29 

married 

SATIVITV. 


New  York 

Minnesota 

Kentucky 

New  York 

Ohio 

Maine 

Massachusetts 

Pennsylvania 

Maine 

Wisconsin 

Missouri 

Xew  York 

Ohio 

Canada 

Xew  York 


OCCUPATION. 


Farmer 

Merchant 

Farmer 

Lawyer 

Farmer 

Lawj-er 

Lumberman 

Farmer 

Farmer 

Indian  trader 

Lumherman 

Farmer 

Farmer 

Miller 

Lawyer 


HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES. 


NAMES. 

COUNTY. 

POST-OFFICE. 

AGE 

27 

condi'n. 

NATIVITY. 

OCCUPATION. 

Boutillier.  C.  W.  Le 

Ramsey 

St.  Anthony 

married 

Isl'd  of  Jersey 

Physician 

Bradlev,  James  T. 

Hennepin 

Minneapolis 

36 

married 

Connecticut 

Carriage  m'kr 

Buck.  "C.  F. 

Winona 

Winona 

28 

married 

New  York 

Lawyer 

Burdick,  R.  C. 

Pembina 

Pembina 

21 

single 

Michigan 

Indian  trader 

Cleaveland,  .Arba 

Carver 

Chanhassen 

36 

married 

Massachusetts 

Farmer 

Covel,  Wm.  B. 

Mower 

Frankfort 

25 

single 

New  York 

Surveyor 

Be  La  Vergne,  A.  F. 

Le  Sueur 

Le  Sueur 

40 

married 

New  York 

Shoemaker 

Dunbar,  Wm.  F. 

Houston 

Caledonia 

31 

married 

Rhode  Island 

Farmer 

Farnham,  Sumner  F. 

Ramsey 

St.  .\uthony 

35 

married 

Maine 

Lumberman 

Galbraith,  Thos.  J. 

Scott 

Shakopee 

29 

married 

Pennsylvania 

lyawyer 

Gere.  William  B. 

Fillmore 

Chatfield 

26 

single 

Pennsylvania 

Farmer 

Gibb.s  0.  C. 

Dabkotah 

St.  Paul 

28 

married 

Vermont 

Farmer 

Grant,  Charles 

Pembina 

St.  Joseph 

30 

married 

Red  River,  B.P. 

Indian  trader 

Hiirteubower,  J.  II. 

Olmsted 

Pleasant  Grove 

27 

married 

Kentucky 

F'armer 

Ilaus,  Reuben 

Ramsey 

St.  Paul 

37 

married 

Penn.sylvania 

Carpenter 

II.,ll:in.l,  J.  M. 

.<5cott 

Shakopee 

24 

single 

Maryland 

Lawyer 

llubbell,  J.  B. 

Dodge 

Mantorville 

36 

married 

New  York 

Farmer 

Hull.  Samuel. 

Fillmore 

Cariniona 

47 

married 

Pennsylvania 

Farmer 

Hunt,  Thomas  B. 

Carver 

Chaska 

24 

married 

Canada 

Lawyer 

Me.  J.  C. 

Rice 

Farribault 

45 

married 

Vermont 

Mechanic 

.lacknian.  H.  A. 

Washington 

Stillwater 

36 

married 

Maine 

Lumberman 

Johnson,  Parsons  K. 

Blue  Earth 

Mankato 

39 

married 

Vermont 

Tailor 

Kirknian.  James 

Wabashaw 

Wabashaw 

31 

married 

Canada 

Blacksmith 

Kuauft,  Kerdiuaud 

Ramsey 

St.  Paul 

31 

married 

Prussia 

Carpenter 

Lott.  B.  W. 

Ramsey 

St.  Paul 

27 

single 

New  .Jersey 

Lawyer 

MrLeod.  George  A. 

Nicollet 

Traverse  d'Sioux 

35 

married 

Canada 

Merchant 

Murphy.  M.  T. 

Dabkotah 

Mendota 

24 

single 

Irelantl 

Farmer 

Ni.bles,  Wm.  H. 

Ramsey 

St.  Paul 

37 

married 

New  York 

Miller 

Norri3,  .Tiimes  S. 

Waahington 

Cottage  Grove 

40 

married 

Maine 

Farmer 

I'ierce.  T.  W. 

Hennepin 

Minneapolis 

30 

married 

Pennsylvania 

Carpenter 

Stunjis.  William 

Benton 

Little  Falls 

38 

married 

Canada 

Farmer 

Taylor.  Nathan  C.  D. 

Chisago 

Taylor's  Falls 

45 

single 

N.  Hampshire 

Lumberman 

Thompson,  M.  G. 

Houston 

Brownsville 

26 

married 

New  York 

Lawyer 

Thorndike.  F. 

Hennepin 

Elm  Creek 

39 

marriiHl 

Mainu 

Farmer 

\an  Vorlies,  A. 

Washington 

Stillwater 

CO 

married 

Pennsylvania 

Gunsmith 

Wilkinson,  Koss 

Ramsey 

St.  Paul 

35 

married 

Pennsylvania 

Farmer 

Wilson,  John  \,. 

Stearns 

St.  Cloud 

35 

married 

Maiiii' 

Architect 

Gardiuer,  Charles,  \ 
Speaker.  J 

Goodhue 

Westervclt 

40 

married 

New  York 

Lawyer 

618  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

During  the  session  of  1856,  there  was  some  conversa- 
tion about  the  division  of  the  territory  by  an  east  and 
west  line,  and  forming  a  new  territory  north  of  the 
fortj^-sixth  degree  of  latitude,  but  no  definite  action  was 
taken.  But  in  the  summer  the  question  of  a  state 
organization  was  for  the  first  time  formally  agitated  in 
a  series  of  earnest  articles  in  the  newspaper,  from  the 
pen  of  John  E.  Warren. 

This  year  was  comparatively  devoid  of  interest.  The 
citizens  of  the  territory  were  busily  engaged  in  making 
claims  in  newly  organized  counties,  and  in  enlarging  the 
area  of  civilization. 

On  the  twelfth  of  June,  several  Ojibways  entered  the 
farm  house  of  Mr.  Whallon,  who  resided  in  Hennepin 
county,  on  the  banks  of  the  Minnesota,  a  mile  below 
the  Bloomington  ferry.  The  wife  of  the  farmer,  a 
friend,  and  three  children,  besides  a  little  Dahkotah  girl, 
who  had  been  brought  up  in  the  mission-house  at  Ka- 
posia,  and  was  so  changed  in  manners  that  her  origin 
was  scarcely  perceptible,  were  sitting  in  the  room  when 
the  Indians  came  in.  Instantly  seizing  the  little  Indian 
maiden,  they  threw  her  out  of  the  door,  killed  and 
scalped  her,  and  fled  before  the  men  who  were  near  by 
in  the  field  could  reach  the  house. 

The  procurement  of  a  state  organization,  and  a  grant 
of  lands  for  railroad  purj^oses,  were  the  topics  of  politi- 
cal interest  during  the  year  1857. 

The  eighth  Legislative  Assembly  convened  at  the 
caj)itol  on  the  seventh  of  January,  and  J.  B.  Brisbin 
was  elected  President  of  the  Council,  and  J.  W.  Furber, 
Speaker  of  the  House. 

A  bill  changing  the  seat  of  government  to  St.  Peter, 
on  the  Minnesota  river,  passed  the  House. 


LONG  SESSION  OF  COUNCIL.  619 

On  Saturday,  February  twenty-eighth,  Mr.  Balcombe 
offered  the  following  resolutions  : — 

^^  Resolved,  That  the  Hon.  Joseph  Rolette  be  very 
respectfully  requested  to  report  to  the  Council,  Bill  No. 
sixty-two  Council  File,  entitled  'A  Bill  for  the  removal 
of  the  Seat  of  Government  for  the  Territory  of  Min- 
nesota,' this  day ;  and  that  should  said  Rolette  fail  so  to 
do  before  the  adjournment  of  the  Council  this  day,  that 
the  Hon.  Mr.  Wales,  who  stands  next  in  the  list  of  said 
Committee  on  Enrolled  Bills,  be  respectfully  requested 
to  procure  another  truly  enrolled  copy  of  the  said  bill, 
and  rejDort  the  same  to  the  Council  on  Monday  next. 

^^And  he  it  further  Resolved,  That  the  secretary  of  the 
Council  is  very  respectfully  requested  to  give  said  bill, 
after  it  has  been  signed  by  the  Speaker  of  the  House, 
and  President  of  the  Council,  to  the  Hon.  Mr.  Wales, 
to  deliver  to  the  Governor  for  his  approval." 

Mr,  Setzer,  after  the  reading  of  the  resolutions,  moved 
a  call  of  the  Council,  and  Mr.  Rolette  was  found  to  be 
absent.  The  chair  ordered  the  sergeant-at>arms  to 
report  Mr.  Rolette  in  his  seat.  Mr.  Balcombe  moved 
that  further  proceedings  under  the  call  be  dispensed 
with,  which  did  not  prevail.  From  that  time  until  the 
next  Thursday  afternoon,  March  the  fifth,  a  period 
of  one  hundred  and  twenty-three  hours,  the  Council  re- 
mained in  their  chamber  without  recess.  At  that  time 
a  motion  to  adjourn  prevailed.  On  Friday,  another 
motion  was  made  to  dispense  with  the  call  of  the  Coun- 
cil, Avhich  did  not  prevail.  On  Saturday,  the  Council 
met,  the  president  declared  the  call  still  pending.  At 
seven  and  a  half  p.  m.,  a  committee  of  the  House  was 
announced.  The  chair  ruled,  that  no  communication 
from  the  House  could  be  received  while  a  call  of  the 


G20  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

Council  was  pending,  and  the  committee  withdrew.  A 
motion  was  again  made  during  the  last  night  of  the 
session,  to  dispense  with  all  further  proceedings  under 
the  call,  which  prevailed,  with  one  vote  only  in  the 
negative. 

Mr.  Freeborn,  from  the  committee  on  enrolled  bills, 
made  the  following  report : — 

"  The  Committee  on  Enrolled  Bills  would  respectfully 
report,  that  owing  to  the  absence  of  the  chairman  of 
this  committee,  Bill  No.  (62)  sixty-two.  Council  File, 
being  a  bill  for  the  removal  of  the  seat  of  government 
of  the  Territory  of  Minnesota,  introduced  by  Mr.  Lowry 
on  the  sixth  of  February,  1857,  has  not  been  reported 
by  this  committee  back  to  the  Council.  Your  com- 
mittee would  further  state  that  the  above-named  bill 
might  have  been  reported  back  to  the  Council  at  this 
time,  but  that  after  examining  the  enrolled  copy  of  said 
bill,  which  was  delivered  to  this  committee  with  the 
engrossed  bill,  by  the  secretary  of  the  Council,  in  pre- 
sence of  the  enrolling  clerk  of  the  Council,  and  care- 
fully comparing  the  same,  we  find  numerous  errors  in 
the  enrolled  copy — some  portions  of  the  engrossed  bill 
being  left  out  of  the  enrolled  copy,  and  matter  being 
inserted  in  the  enrolled  copy  which  is  not  in  the  en- 
grossed bill.  Your  committee  cannot,  therefore,  report 
the  said  Bill  No.  62,  C.  F.,  as  correctly  enrolled,  but 
retain  the  same  in  our  possession,  subject  to  the  order 
of  the  Council. 

"  All  which  is  respectfully  submitted." 

Mr.  Ludden  moved  that  a  committee  be  appointed  to 
wait  on  the  governor,  and  inquire  if  he  had  any  fur- 
ther communication  to  make  to  the  Council. 

Mr.  Lowry  moved  a  call  of  the  Council,  which  was 


EXCITEMENT  ON  REMOVAL  OF  CAPITAL.  G21 

ordered,  and  the  roll  being  called,  Messrs.  Rolette, 
Thompson,  and  Tillotson  were  absent. 

At  twelve  o'clock  at  night  the  president  resumed  the 
chair,  and  announced  that  the  time  limited  by  law  for 
the  continuation  of  the  session  of  the  territorial  legis- 
lature had  expired,  and  he  therefore  declared  the  Coun- 
cil adjourned  without  day. 

The  excitement  on  the  capital  question  was  intense, 
and  it  was  a  strange  scene  to  see  members  of  the  Coun- 
cil, eating  and  sleeping  in  the  hall  of  legislation  for 
days,  waiting  for  the  sergeant-at-arms  to  report  an  ab- 
sent member  in  his  seat. 

During  the  spring  and  early  summer,  the  public  mind 
was  indignant  at  an  atrocity  perpetrated  in  the  extreme 
south-western  frontier  of  Minnesota,  the  recital  of  which 
causes  the  blood  to  curdle,  and  the  mind  to  revert  to 
the  border  scenes  of  the  past  century,  which  occurred 
in  the  valley  of  Wyoming.  In  the  north-western  corner 
of  Iowa,  a  few  miles  from  the  Minnesota  boundary,  there 
is  a  lake  known  as   Spirit  Lake.     In  the  sf)ring  of 

1856,  persons  from  Eed  Wing  had  visited  this  place, 
and  determined  to  lay  off  a  town.     In  the  winter  of 

1857,  there  were  six  or  seven  log  cabins  on  the  borders 
of  the  lake.  About  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  north,  in 
Minnesota,  there  was  also  a  small  place  called  Spring- 
field. 

For  several  years,  Inkpadootah,  a  Wahpaykootay 
Dahkotah,  had  been  roving  with  a  few  outlaws,  being 
driven  away  from  their  own  peof)le  by  internal  diffi- 
culties. These  Indians  were  hunting  in  north-western 
Iowa,  when  one  was  bitten  by  a  white  man's  dog,  which 
he  killed.  The  whites  then  proceeded  to  the  Indian 
camp,  and  disarmed  them,  but  they  soon  supplied  them- 


622  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

selves  again.  After  this,  they  arrived  on  Sunday,  the 
eighth  of  March,  at  Spirit  Lake.  They  proceeded  to 
a  cabin,  where  only  men  dwelt,  and  asked  for  beef. 
Understanding,  as  they  assert,  that  they  had  permission 
to  kill  one  of  the  cattle,  they  did  so,  and  commenced 
cutting  it  up,  when  one  of  the  white  men  came  out  and 
knocked  down  the  Dahkotah.  For  this  act  the  settler 
was  shot,  and  another  one  coming  out  of  the  cabin,  he 
was  also  killed.  Surrounding  the  house,  the  Indians 
now  fired  the  thatched  roof,  and  as  the  men  ran  out  all 
were  killed,  making  the  whole  number  eleven. 

About  the  same  time,  the  Indians  went  to  the  house 
of  a  frontiersman,  by  the  name  of  Gardner,  and  de- 
manded food,  and  all  the  food  in  the  house  was  given 
to  them.  The  son-in-law,  and  another  man,  left  to  go 
and  see  if  all  was  right  at  the  neighbouring  cabin,  but 
they  never  came  back.  Toward  night,  excited  by  the 
blood  they  had  been  spilling  through  the  day,  they 
came  back  again  to  Mr.  Gardner's  house,  and  soon 
killed  him,  and  despatching  his  wife,  and  two  daugh- 
ters, and  grandchildren,  carried  off  Abby,  the  surviv- 
ing daughter.  The  next  day,  they  continued  their 
fiendish  work,  and  brought  into  camp  Mrs.  Thatcher 
and  Mrs.  Noble.  That  day  a  man  by  the  name  of 
Markham  visited  the  house  of  Gardner,  and  saw  the 
dead  bodies.  Secreting  himself  till  night,  he  came 
to  the  Springfield  settlement  in  Minnesota,  and  re- 
ported what  he  had  seen.  Three  miles  above  the 
Thatcher  family  on  the  lake,  there  lived  a  Mr.  Marble. 

On  Thursday,  the  twelfth  of  March,  an  Indian,  who 
had  been  on  friendly  terms  with  Marble's  family,  called 
at  his  house,  and  (as  near  as  Mrs.  Marble,  with  her  im- 
perfect  knowledge  of  the  language,  could  make  out) 


SPIRIT  LAKE  AND  SPRINGFIELD  MASSACRE.  623 

told  them  that  the  white  people  below  them  on  the 
Lake  had  been  nijjpoed  (killed)  a  day  or  two  previously. 
This  aroused  the  suspicion  of  the  Marbles,  and  none  the 
less  that  the  great  depth  of  the  snow  made  it  almost 
impossible  to  get  out  and  ascertain  the  truth  of  the 
story.  The  next  day  (the  thirteenth),  quite  early  in 
the  forenoon,  four  Indians  came  to  Marble's  house  and 
were  admitted.  Their  demeanour  was  so  friendly  as  to 
disarm  all  suspicion.  They  proposed  to  swap  rifles  with 
Marble,  and  the  terms  were  soon  agreed  upon.       , 

After  the  swap,  the  chief  suggested  that  they  should 
go  out  on  the  lake  and  shoot  at  a  mark.  Marble 
assented.  After  a  few  discharges  they  turned  to  come 
in  the  direction  of  the  house,  when  the  savages  allowed 
Marble  to  go  a  few  paces  ahead,  and  immediately  shot 
him  down.  Mrs.  Marble,  who  was  looking  out  of  the 
cabin,  saw  her  husband  fall,  and  immediately  ran  to 
him.  The  Indians  seized  her  and  told  her  that  they 
would  not  kill  her,  but  would  take  her  with  them. 

They  carried  her  in  triumph  to  the  camp,  whither 
they  had  previously  taken  three  other  white  women, 
Mrs.  Noble,  Mrs.  Thatcher,  and  Miss  Gardner. 

Inkpadootah  and  party  now  proceeded  to  Springfield, 
where  they  slaughtered  the  whole  settlement,  about 
the  twenty-seventh  of  March.  When  the  United  States 
troops  arrived  from  Fort  Ridgely,  they  buried  two  bodies, 
and  the  volunteers  from  Iowa  buried  twenty-nine  others. 
Besides  these,  others  were  missing.  The  outlaws,  per- 
ceiving that  the  soldiers  were  in  pursuit,  made  their 
escape.  The  four  captive  women  were  forced  by  day  to 
carry  heavy  burdens  through  deep  snow,  and  at  night-fall 
they  were  made  to  cut  wood  and  set  up  the  tent,  and, 
after  dark,  to  be  subject  to  the  indignities  that  suggested 


624  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

themselves  to  savages.  When  food  began  to  fail,  the 
white  -women  subsisted  on  bones  and  feathers. 

Mrs.  Thatcher  was  in  poor  health  in  consequence  of 
the  recent  birth  of  a  child,  and  she  became  burdensome. 
Arriving  at  the  Big  Sioux  river,  the  Indians  made  a 
l3ridge  by  felling  a  tree  on  each  side  of  the  river  bank. 
Mrs.  Thatcher  attempted  to  cross,  but  failed,  and,  in 
despair,  refused  to  try  again.  One  of  the  men  took 
her  by  the  hand,  as  if  to  help  her,  and,  when  about 
midway,  pushed  her  into  the  stream.  She  swam  to  the 
shore,  and  they  pushed  her  off,  and  then  fired  at  her  as 
if  she  was  a  target,  until  life  was  extinct. 

"  In  the  early  spring  it  was  next  to  impossible  to 
make  any  considerable  efforts  for  their  rescue ;  and  it 
was  not  known  what  direction  the  captors  had  taken. 
Time  passed  on.  Two  military  expeditions  reached  the 
place  where  the  massacre  took  place,  but  did  nothing, 
except  to  bury  the  slain.  Early  in  the  month  of  May, 
two  young  men  from  Lac  qui  Parle,  who  had  been  taught 
by  the  mission  to  read  and  write,  and  whose  mother  is 
a  member  of  our  church,^  while  on  their  spring  hunt, 
found  themselves  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Inkpadoota 
and  his  party.  Having  heard  that  they  held  some 
American  women  in  captivity,  the  two  brothers  visited 
the  camp, — though  this  was  at  some  risk  of  their  lives, 
since  Inkpadootah's  hand  was  now  against  every 
man, — and  found  the  outlaws,  and  succeeded  in  bargain- 
ing for  Mrs.  Marble,  whom  they  first  took  to  their 
mother's  tent,"  and  then  brought  her  to  a  trading-house 
at  Lac  qui  Parle,  when  she  Avas  visited  by  those  con- 
nected with  the  mission  at  Hazelwood,  and  clothed  once 
more  in  civilized  costume.  On  her  arrival  at  the  hotel 
at  St.  Paul,  the  citizens  welcomed  her,  and  presented 

'  Letter  of  Dr.  Williamson. 


RESCUE  OF  WHITE  WOMEN  FROM  CAPTIVITY.  625 

her  with  a  thousand  dollars.     The  deske  to  rescue  the 
two  surviving  white  women  now  became  intense. 

One  night  a  good  Indian,  named  Paul  by  the  whites, 
an  elder  of  the  mission  church,  came  into  the  mission- 
house  and  said : — 

'*  If  the  white  chief  tells  me  to  go,  I  will  go."  "•  I 
tell  you  to  go,"  rephed  Mr.  Flandrau,  then  Dahkotah 
Agent.  With  two  companies  he  started  next  day,  with-; 
a  wagon  and  two  horses,  and  valuable  presents.  After 
a  diligent  search  the  outlaws  were  found  on  the  James 
river  mth  a  band  of  Yanktons. 

A  few  days  before  Mrs.  Noble  had  been  murdered,  a 
Yankton,  who  had  lost  his  legs  by  disease,  had  pur- 
chased the  two  women.  One  night  Mrs.  Noble  was 
ordered  to  go  out,  and  be  subject  to  the  wishes  of  the 
party.  She  refusing  to  go,  a  son  of  Inkpadootah  dragged 
her  out  by  the  hair  and  killed  her.  The  next  morning 
a  Dahkotah  woman  took  Miss  Gardner,  the  sole  surviv- 
ing captive,  to  see  the  corpse,  which  had  been  horribly 
treated  after  death. 

Paul,  by  his  perseverance  and  large  presents,  at  length 
redeemed  the  captive,  and  she  was  brought  to  the  mis- 
sion-house, and  from  thence  she  visited  St.  Paul,  and 
was  restored  to  her  sister  in  Iowa. 

For  some  days  previous  to  the  first  of  July  it  had  been 
reported  that  one  of  Inkpadootah's  sons  was  in  a  camp 
on  the  Yellow  Medicine  river.  A  message  was  sent  to 
the  agent,  Flandrau,  who,  with  a  detachment  of  soldiers 
from  Fort  Ridgely,  and  some  Indian  guides,  soon  arrived 
and  surrounded  the  lodges.  The  alarm  being  given, 
Inkpadootah's  son,  said  to  have  been  the  murderer  of 
Mrs.  Noble,  ran  from  his  lodge  followed  by  his  wife. 
He  concealed  himself  for  a  short  period  in  the  brush  by 

40 


626  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

the  water,  but  was  soon  ferreted  out  and  shot  by  United 
States  soldiers. 

The  rest  of  the  outlaws  are  said  to  be  west  of  the 
Missouri,  and  that  they  may  yet  meet  the  punishment 
which  they  so  richly  deserve  for  their  horrible  barbarity, 
is  the  wish  of  every  righteous  man. 

On  the  twenty-third  of  February,  1857,  an  act  passed 
the  United  States  Senate,  to  authorize  the  people  of 
Minnesota  to  form  a  constitution,  preparatory  to  their 
admission  into  the  Union  on  an  equal  footing  with  the 
original  states.  And  at  the  close  of  the  session  another 
act  passed,  making  a  grant  of  land  in  alternate  sections, 
to  aid  in  the  construction  of  certain  railroads  in  the  ter- 
ritory. 

Governor  Gorman  called  a  special  session  of  the  legis- 
lature, to  take  into  consideration  measures  that  would 
give  efficiency  to  these  acts.  The  extra  session  con- 
vened on  April  twenty-seventh,  and  a  message  was 
transmitted  by  Samuel  Medarj',^  who  had  been  appointed 
governor  in  the  place  of  W.  A.  Gorman,  whose  term 
of  office  had  expired.  An  act  was  passed  to  execute 
the  trust  created  by  Congress ;  and  the  lands,  under 
certain  conditions,  were  given  to  certain  chartered  rail- 
road companies.  The  extra  session  adjourned  on  the 
twenty-third  of  May ;  and  in  accordance  with  the  pro- 
visions of  the  enabling  act  of  Congress,  an  election  was 
held  on  the  first  Monday  in  June,  for  delegates  to  a  con- 
vention which  was  to  assemble  at  the  capital  on  the 
second  Monday  in  July.  The  election  resulted,  as  was 
thought,  giving  a  majority  of  delegates  to  the  Republi- 
can party. 

At  midnight  previous  to  the  day  fixed  for  the  meet- 

^  lie  acted  as  governor  for  a  few  months  only. 


ADOPTION  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION.  627 

ing  of  the  convention,  the  Republicans  proceeded  to 
the  capitol,  because  the  enabUng  act  had  not  fixed  at 
what  hour  on  the  second  Monday  the  convention  should 
assemble,  and  fearing  that  the  Democratic  delegates 
might  anticipate  them,  and  elect  the  officers  of  the 
body.  A  little  before  twelve,  a.  m.,  on  Monday,  the 
secretary  of  the  territory  entered  the  speaker's  ros- 
trum, and  began  to  call  the  body  to  order ;  and  at  the 
same  time  a  delegate,  J.  W.  North,  who  had  in  his  pos- 
session a  written  request  from  the  majority  of  the  dele- 
gates present,  proceeded  to  do  the  same  thing.  The 
secretary  of  the  territory  put  a  motion  to  adjourn, 
and  the  Democratic  members  ^^reseut  voting  in  the 
affirmative,  they  left  the  hall.  The  Republicans,  feel- 
ing that  they  were  in  the  majority,  remained,  and  in 
due  time  organized,  and  proceeded  with  the  business 
specified  in  the  enabling  act,  to  form  a  constitution,  and 
take  all  necessary  steps  for  the  establishment  of  a  state 
government,  in  conformity  with  the  Federal  Constitu- 
tion, subject  to  the  approval  and  ratification  of  the 
people  of  the  proposed  state. 

After  several  days  the  Democratic  Aving  also  organized 
in  the  Senate  chamber  at  the  capitol,  and,  claiming  to 
be  the  true  body,  also  proceeded  to  form  a  constitution. 
Both  parties  were  remarkably  orderly  and  intelligent, 
and  everything  was  marked  by  perfect  decorum.  After 
they  had  been  in  session  some  weeks,  moderate  coun- 
sels prevailed,  and  a  committee  of  conference  was  ap- 
pointed from  each  body,  which  resulted  in  both  adopting 
the  same  constitution,  on  the  twenty-ninth  of  August. 
According  to  the  provision  of  the  constitution,  an  election 
was  held  for  state  officers  and  the  adoption  of  the  con- 
stitution, on  the  second  Tuesday,  the  thirteenth  of  Oc- 


G28  HISTORY  OF  MINNESOTA. 

tober.  The  constitution  was  adopted  by  almost  a  unani- 
mous vote.  It  provided  that  the  territorial  officers 
should  retain  their  offices  until  the  state  was  admitted 
into  the  Union,  not  anticipating  the  long  delay  which 
has  been  experienced. 

The  first  session  of  the  state  legislature  commenced 
on  the  first  Wednesday  of  December,  at  the  capitol,  in 
the  city  of  St.  Paul;  and  during  the  month  elected 
Henry  M.  Eice  and  James  Shields  as  their  Representor 
tives  in  the  United  States  Senate. 

On  the  twenty-ninth  of  January,  1858,  Mr.  Douglas 
submitted  a  bill  to  the  United  States  Senate,  for  the 
admission  of  Minnesota  into  the  Union.  On  the  first  of 
February,  a  discussion  arose  on  the  bill,  in  which  Sena- 
tors Douglas,  Wilson,  G^\dn,  Hale,  Mason,  Green,  Brown, 
and  Crittenden  participated.  Brown,  of  Mississippi,  was 
opposed  to  the  admission  of  Minnesota,  until  the  Kansas 
question  was  settled.  Mr.  Crittenden,  as  a  Southern 
man,  could  not  endorse  all  that  Avas  said  by  the  Senator 
from  Mississippi ;  and  his  words  of  wisdom  and  modera- 
tion during  this  day's  discussion,  are  worthy  of  remem- 
brance. On  April  the  seventh,  the  bill  passed  the 
Senate  Avith  only  three  dissenting  votes;  and  hy  the 
time  that  this  history  is  published,  Minnesota  will  be 
recognised  as  one  of  the  United  States. 


THE    END. 


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UCI  REC'D 

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